


Infidelity

by KMissouri



Category: Code Geass, Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate History, Alternate Universe - Canon, Attempted Murder, Best Friends, Cheating, Cliffhangers, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Multi, Past Relationship(s), Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-06
Updated: 2014-04-03
Packaged: 2017-12-18 04:47:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 99,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/875785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KMissouri/pseuds/KMissouri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This dark, yet serious story follow the story of Det. Alexandra Cabot, a former prosecutor who is now one of the head investigators of Manhattan Special Victims Unit. During one of their investigations, she crosses path with Suzaku Kururugi, a law student from Hudson University. Once these two meet, they somehow become friends.</p><p>Despite objections and personal opinions from their colleagues and friends, they continue their friendship. However, just as things seem okay, Suzaku discovers the harsh truth of what his longtime girlfriend is doing behind his back. Once he learns of her infidelity, it opens up a chain of events that reveals several secrets about his friends.</p><p>It gets worse as Alex and her colleagues get involved. While the squad tries to control the situation, Alex's new-found friendship with Suzaku tries to go through the road block that is his personal life. Along the lines, she'll have to go face to face with some demons of her own.</p><p>But with everything turning sour around them, will they stay friends after this is all over?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During an homicide investigation, Detective Alexandra Cabot ends up befriends a young law student, named Suzaku Kururugi.

_I can't rightfully explain what this story is about because if I did, then it wouldn't be fun to read. Like some great stories, mine is a true one. This was something that happened not too long ago and well, it is not pretty if you ask me. I'm not saying my life is crazy but what me and my colleagues went through is. I'm not gonna guarantee that my tale will end happily; but like I say: Every story has a beginning and an ending but sometimes, stories don't always end happily._

_It is hard to understand the subtleties of romance. There is not always a guarantee that you will ever find "the one", yet we all believe that such a person is out there. Sometimes, "the one" might be the one that will hurt you the most. Everyone wants to believe that they can find a person that will guarantee them happiness. But yet, is that what we really want or are we looking for something else? Should romance be judged by how two people look together? Should that special mate be determined by their amount of wealth? Have people stopped focusing on the "simple things" and chose to dream big?_

_For young adults, it is uncertain for them to realize that sometimes, you'll lose the things close to you. Even the one you love. So from the young folks in love to the older ones still together, it seems as though nothing lasts forever._

Detective Alexandra Cabot sat quietly at her desk, her eyes glued to the computer monitor, chewing on a pen until  _*smack*_  – A minimal smack to the wrist came suddenly. It was only to get her attention, when she looked up, she saw her commanding officer.

"Alex!" said Captain Donald Cragen, the commander of the  _Special Victims Unit_. "What have I told you about sticking pens in your mouth?"

"Oh...uh..." She stammered, until she got her wits about herself, "Sorry, captain. I was just reading something."

"Well you know what to do. Hand it over." He ordered, holding out his palm. She reluctantly placed the chewed up pen in his hand, as this wasn't the first time she had to do this.

"I don't understand why you all keep doing this?" She complained.

Her comment sparked the words of Detective Elliot Stabler, who sat far from her desk when he remarked, "Alex, you chew through more pens than a monkey eating bananas."

"Only difference is a monkey doesn't have to told more than twice not to do things." Cragen added. Alex let out a defeated sigh, turning her eyes back to the computer monitor. That was until Cragen received something from one of the detectives, with some important news.

"Just got news that a body has been found right out in Washington Heights." he reported to his detectives, "Stabler, Cabot, you two head out there."

"Yes, captain." Elliot and Alex said in unison. They both walked out of the precinct to respond to the call.

_My name is Alexandra Cabot and I am currently a detective for the New York Police Department. I previously worked at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for almost two decades. I was an assistant district attorney assigned to the Sex Crimes Bureau, where we prosecute sexually based offenses. How I got here is a long story that I don't believe any of you may have any interest in but I just need to clear this out. So several years ago, I graduated from the police academy; the reason why I was there was because of a stupid bar bet._

_I didn't take the job that seriously at first, but after a while I felt as though I could make a different outside of the courthouse. I don't feel like boring you with the details as to how I got here but what I can tell is that serving as an ADA by day and a cop by night was not only stressful, but time-consuming. After doing such an impressive job, my bosses were so impressed I earned a promotion to detective. When it happened, I didn't quite expect it to make detective, All I did was do the job I was supposed to do._

_After a year at my current post, I decided to transfer to Manhattan Special Victims Unit. When my request was granted, that meant I had to give up my job as a prosecutor due to conflict of interest. Yet, I have no regrets about leaving. To say the least, I'm actually more happy now that I ever was._

At the the crime scene, surrounded mostly by police or members of the crime scene unit, Alex and Elliot walk over to the body, accompanied by Melinda Warner, their medical examiner. She had already taken a look upon the body, and was just waiting for the detectives to arrive.

Putting on a pair of disposable gloves, the first thing Alex says to her was, "I bet I can guess what we got here."

"Then congrats, you guessed right." she remarked, "The victim is a female, 22 years old. Possibly raped, beaten to death and dumped near a dumpster."

"To think they would spend a little more effort by throwing her  _in_  the dumpster." Alex thought out loud.

Though that was true, Elliot turned back to Melinda and asked, "Any I.D?"

"CSU didn't find anything on her. But look here," she replied, "On her back, there are a vast number of scars, bruises and a series of burns. The rest on her body are recent."

"Indicating that she was tortured much before?" Elliot inquired, "So if it was a just a simple dump job, then what explains the assault?"

"I'll have to look during the autopsy."

Meanwhile, as Alex looked at the body, she noticed something on the victim that was oddly familiar. She interrupted them by saying, "Wait a minute." Alex went down and lifted up the arm only to find a freakish looking brand just below the victim's armpit.

"What the hell is that?" Melinda exclaimed; despite taking a full look at the victim, not even she noticed it.

"That looks oddly familiar?"

Taking a more delicate look, Alex explained to them both, "This burn looks exactly like the  _fleur-de-lis_."

"What is that?" Elliot asked her.

"It's a symbol used for political, religious or creative purposes among other known uses." Alex explained, " _Fleur_  is french for flower and  _lis_  is also french for lily. Do you know what the New Orleans Saints' logo looks like, Elliot?"

"Yeah."

"Well that's what it is."

Looking down at the body, Elliot commented, "Well it seems someone found a different purpose for it."

* * *

_The investigation began incredibly slow for the detectives, with a bloody crime scene and no evidence, they were deadlocked. Three days into the investigation_ , Alex and Elliot explained the details to their captain, as well as Sergeant John Munch and Detective Fin Tutuola. They had some that could help their case, but as proven in time, even if they had enough evidence, it was always not enough.

"So that's the basic details. I checked the database for similar cases, but came up empty." Alex told her boss and fellow detectives.

"Are you sure there are no cases matching this M.O.?" Cragen inquired.

"Absolutely sure, captain."

Then during their conversation, Sergeant Munch walked over to his desk to answer his phone. It didn't take much long when he returned and gave the detectives an interesting piece of information: "I just received a tip from an neighbor that lives nearby the body was found, she told police that her name is Marie Gordon, she's a student at Hudson University."

"Well at least we know her name. But lets try and find our suspect." Elliot said to his colleagues, "There's a surveillance camera across the street where she was dumped. CSU retrieved footage of Marie being walked home by this unknown man."

The watch the short footage on video and watches the victim being walked home by a guy that looked as old as her. The two share a hug and walks away. They detectives tried watching the other footage from the cams to see if he returns later. But after fast-forwarding through six hours, they do not see him again. They went back and froze to where his face was visible.

"Okay. Two of you go out to Hudson and see if anyone can identify him." Cragen ordered them, "Fin, you get the autopsy results."

"Got it, captain." Fin responds, grabbing his coat and went out.

 _Meanwhile,_ at  _Hudson University,_  Elliot, Alex and Munch went all around the campus with a cam photo of their person of interest. From the students outside to the ones goofing off, none are able to identify the person in the photo. Alex continued asking students while the other two spoke to the teachers. For the past fifteen minutes, Alex stood in the hallway as they walked past, no one bothered to look and walked away. She stepped back and let out sighed but when she opened her eyes, she saw a person looking down at the photo from a distance.

Alex walked over to the young lady, who tried to walk away but Alex was determined to at least ask, "Excuse me? Could I have a moment of your time?"

"I don't want what you're selling." said the young woman.

Puzzled, she took out her badge and said, "I'm with the police. Does this person look familiar to you?"

Knowing now that she is an officer, she looked at the photo for a moment or two when she gave her answer, "I know that guy. His name is Suzaku. He's a law student."

"Is there any place where I can find him?" Alex asked her.

"Well he usually hangs out with Marie, but I think he's too good to be friends with that bitch."

"It's best to not speak ill of the dead. She was found dead yesterday."

The young woman was stunned by the news and instantly felt bad for what she just said. "Oh my god. Do you think he did it?"

"We're not sure, but we hope to clear him as a suspect."

"Good. Well he mostly goes to her dorm room around this time. You could catch him if you can."

"Thank you, miss." Alex smiled.

The young student gave her directions to her dorm which was not that far from where she was. In almost no time, Alex made her to the dorms. When she went searching for the dorm room, she hears what sounded like a lamp shattering nearby. She walked to her destination as the noise got louder as got closer. She tried to knock on the door but she heard what sounded like fighting.

Hearing that someone was in obvious distress, she took a few steps back and launching her foot towards the door, knocking it right open. Alex took out her gun and stormed in where she witnessing a gang of young men beating up another young man. Alex ran right into the midst of it, dragging one of them off.

In addition, Alex fired a warning shot up at the ceiling. Then she yelled, "Freeze! Nobody move or I will be forced to shoot." They stopped and backed away from the victim, who just so happened to be their person of interest.

"If none of you aren't out of here in ten seconds, then I will arrest each one of you." She threatened.

They laughed at her supposed threat which one of them commented, "You can't arrest  _all_  of us, lady."

"Just try and test me." she glared at them. The all looked around at each other and walked out before they dealt with her wrath. With them gone, Alex looked down at the partially beaten and bruised student and gave out her hand.

"Need some help getting up?" she asked him. He took her hand and with her assistance, got back on his feet.

"Thanks, officer." he thanked.

"No problem. Is your name Suzaku?"

"Suzaku Kururugi is my name. Why do you ask?" he inquired.

Alex took hold of his arm and told him, "I need you to come with me so we could ask you some questions." Although he had no idea what was going on, Suzaku cooperated with her and went with her. As they walked through the hallway, Alex hands him something to clean the blood off his face.

 _At the morgue_ , Detective Tutuola went to pick up the autopsy reports from their medical examiner. It seemed like it was an open and shut autopsy to him but for Melinda, it was a roller-coaster that she was not anticipating in any way.

"So how it's going, got the results?" Fin asked the exhausted medical examiner.

"Just came in." Melinda answered, tired as all hell.

"Why do you look like you haven't slept in days?"

"That's because I've been examining this body non-stop since it got here. I thought I'd be done in a matter of hours, but this has thrown me in different directions."

"Maybe you should rest." he told her.

"I will once I tell you what I uncovered." Melinda replied, "Her wounds are inconsistent with her death. Autopsy results reveal that she died of cardiac arrest."

"So she wasn't beaten to death. That I understand, but there is a chance she was killed some other way. Did you search for any cut veins or bullet wounds?"

"None that I found, but there's something else that I discovered." she told the detective, "She wasn't raped."

This news surprised the detective in a lot of ways. In which he exclaimed, "Excuse me?"

"I found no DNA, no signs of vaginal scaring, laceration or bruising. No indication that proves she was attacked at all."

"So you're saying that this could've been a mugging?"

"Didn't say that but possible. What I can tell you for certain is that someone did indeed kill her." Melinda took a hold of the victim's head and exposed her neck to the detective, "I found needle marks on her neck. She was injected with  _potassium chloride_."

"What's that?"

"It is commonly used for lethal injections. The right dosage can cause cardiac arrest and eventually death."

Fin sighed deeply, as things continued to escalate into some unusual turns. Since he heard everything he needed to hear, he tells her, "Alright. I'll go inform my captain about this. Thanks, Melinda."

"You're welcome, Detective." She smiled.

 _Later that day, inside of the precinct,_ the detectives escorted Suzaku to the interrogation room where they intend to ask him questions, unaware that there were new developments in the investigation. Nonetheless, he sat quietly and patiently as he waited for someone to come right in. While the detectives were having a short conversation, they walked in. Elliot looked as if he was about to tear right into in and Alex was just there to keep him from killing him.

"So what can I do for you, detectives?" he said sincerely to the detectives.

Elliot wanted to laugh at what he thought was a fake gesture of kindness. Alex however, went on with business. "Can you tell us who this person is?"

She held the photo of the victim in front of his face, it didn't take long for Suzaku to answer, "Of course. That's Marie, my classmate. Why do you ask? Did something happen to her?"

"She was found beaten and raped outside her apartment building the other day." Alex told him. Suzaku was stunned to hear what had happened, but something didn't make any sense.

"Oh my god."

Now Elliot already disliked him and was not buying into his act – or so he thought. "Do you really think we are buying this crap? You know exactly what happened. " he exclaimed. Even though he did not particularly yell at him, the feelings were somewhat hostile.

"Excuse me, but what are you talking about" he asked him.

"We have video proof of you leaving the apartment the night she died."

Alex told him, showing him a picture of him via a surveillance camera, "This is you walking her straight to her apartment, the night before she was killed."

He took a look at the photo; with his back against the wall, he had to explain why he was there. "Look, I walk her home because she is afraid that something bad could happen. I only walk her to the building door, after that, I go home."

"How did you get home?" Elliot asked.

"Took an express back to Brooklyn." he answered, "I never got back until midnight."

"Is there anybody that could back up your story?"

"Yes. My roommate."

"Do you honestly think your roommate can back you up? How stupid do you think we are?"

"I'm not sure. Is that a rhetorical question or are you serious?"

"Look here," said Alex, who pulled up a chair next to him, "We're not pointing fingers, we're not assuming anything. Now, you were found coming in and out, why were you there?"

He looked down and told her, "I can't tell you, ma'am."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm afraid that these guys could come after me."

Elliot was curious by his words and inquired, "What are you so scared of?"

Since he was being a bit hostile towards Suzaku, Alex (who maintained a calm demeanor) told him, "Look, if you don't tell us something, then there is a chance you'll take the fall for this. Just tell me this, was Marie still alive when you left the apartment?"

"Yes. She was still alive."

"Did you see anyone suspicious walk into the building when you were entering or leaving?"

He thought about it for a second and replied, "Not sure. I didn't see anyone come in."

Alex and Elliot were both tired and they wanted answers – or even a confession. But things shifted when Captain Cragen walked in, telling his people, "Detectives, could I speak to you for a moment. It's very important."

They walk out to go see what their captain had for them. Alex asked off the bat, "Got any news for us?"

"Yes. Fin called with the autopsy results." Cragen reported to his detectives, "He said that she wasn't raped, she died from a injection of potassium chloride. In fact, John is currently running through the cameras to back up his alibi."

With this news, Elliot had a theory of what might have happened, "Well even though he likely didn't rape or kill her, he probably smacked her around some and she fought back."

"Nope. Not likely." Alex repelled his theory. Both were puzzled by her sudden objection.

"What do you mean, Alex?" he inquired.

"When I went to the victim's dorm room, I found several boys ganging up and beating the crap out of him until I stopped the altercation." she explained.

Jumping into their conversation was Sergeant Munch as he had picked up the surveillance photos of all subways that led to Brooklyn that evening. He walked up to them and gave them what he had retrieved, "Turns out, this guy's alibi checks out. Surveillance captured him taking a subway en route to Brooklyn the night before Marie Gordon was killed."

"So we got nothing on him?" Elliot again inquired. "So what do we do now, captain?"

The decision was clear and simple. And he told them, "If his alibi checks out then, let him go."

Suzaku still sat patently for the detectives to come right back. Despite Elliot's aggressive energy, he did not show any signs of fear.. He had a phone but didn't use it. He had many things he could've done to pass the time but chose not to. When Detective Cabot came back, she had some news for him.

"Suzaku Kururugi, you're free to go." she said. Suzaku showed a sign a relief that he had been let go.

"Wait? I wasn't under arrest?"

"Technically, no.

"Well to be honest, if you did get a confession, you wouldn't use it in court since I wasn't read my rights or had a attorney." he told the blonde detective, who already knew that, "But regardless of that, thank you, detective. If there is anything I can do to help catch her killer than I'd be glad too."

"Good to know. Watch your ass out there, kid."

Suzaku nodded and made his way out but something nearly crossed his mind in which he turned around, facing her once again. "I almost forgot. Thank you for saving my ass earlier."

"No problem. I'm just doing my job as usual." she smiled.

"Well if you like, I wanted to know if you wanted me to buy you a drink later tonight?"

"Are you asking me on a date? Right after you were just suspected of raping and killing a girl?"

Alex's suspicions caught Suzaku off-guard, slightly blushing a bit. That is when he said, "No, no... Not like that. I wanted to thank you for what you did. If it isn't too much trouble."

Putting it that way, it didn't sound all that bad. Especially if it was only a friendly drink. "Sure. I'll meet you tonight after work. Say... 10 o'clock."

"Great. See you then, detective." He walked out of the precinct with plenty of confidence. Though she didn't really want too, Alex smiled a bit as she watched him leave. In front of her colleagues, she received some mixed reception around the office, especially from Detective Stabler.

"That kid is quite charming, huh?" Elliot chuckled.

"Shut up, Stabler." she scowled.

"Pretty interesting to let that guy take you out for a drink. Date possibly?"

"It's not a date," said the blonde detective, "He just wants to thank me for helping him out the other day. I mean, it just a friendly night out. What do you think is gonna happen?"

* * *

**End of Chapter One**


	2. Broken Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After accepting his request, Alex goes out to have a drink with Suzaku, where she learns a little more about him.

After another long day at work, an extremely tired Alex Cabot walked to her car, hoping to have a quiet night back home. As she stuck the key in the ignition about ready to drive home, she remembered something from earlier that day – she was supposed to meet someone.

Although Alex didn't really want to go to a bar when it was pushing towards midnight, she was someone who kept her word and even though she truly did not want too, the gesture and the fact she needed a drink was enough motivation for her to go. Where? She had no clue whatsoever; especially since she had no way of contacting him. She drove to the nearest bar, since he likely went to one the closest.

Believe it or not, she was right. Looking though her car window, she saw Suzaku sitting outside alone, supposedly waiting for her. Alex was glad that didn't have to drive all over Manhattan, searching through every bar she could think at this late at night just to find him. She parked her car not so far from the place and went to greet him.

Suzaku saw her walking by so he waved and greeted, "Detective, you made it."

The tired detective looked at him with a slight bit of contempt. She replied, "Yeah I did. Even though you forgot to tell me where you wanted me to go."

"Sorry, my bad. I didn't know until I got here."

"Look kid," Alex sighed, "I appreciate the gesture but to be honest, I don't have time to hang out, party and just act like a fool. I have to work tomorrow so I'm not going to stick around all night."

Suzaku knew that she did not want to be here at this time of night and felt a bit of regret for asking her. The brown haired boy then told her, "I understand fully. I thought I'd show how thankful I am for helping me. If you don't wish to be here, then that's okay."

"Please don't guilt me into staying." she groaned but since she was here, she might as well, "Okay, I'll let you buy me one drink. After that I'm gone. Got it?"

 _Later that evening,_ the blonde detective allowed the young man to buy her a beverage; she ordered a beer, he ordered scotch. Immediately after purchase, they sat together with neither saying anything to each other. Suzaku could see how unhappy she was at this moment and the last thing he wanted was to keep her here any longer than he should.

He tried to speak to her but is caught off-guard when she said to him, "Sorry about my partner. He can get a little... violent. At least not this time."

"No worries. Honestly he might have scared the crap out of me, but I don't think he would've done anything."

"Trust me, he would rip out your spine if he could." she commented. He started chuckling under his breath, while he thought about it. He actually believed it.

But looking at the doting smile on her face, he noticed the sudden change. "Wow. One second you looked unhappy, but now it seems like you've opened up."

"Yeah. I suppose, kid."

"Just call me Suzaku, ma'am." he asked of her. But he recognized something, "You know? I don't exactly remember you tell me your name."

That is when it struck Alex. She did not remember telling him her name at any point. So she thought it was necessary, "My name is Alexandra Cabot. But you will call me Alex, like everyone else."

"Gee, you want me to call you by your first name?"

"Just Alex. Plain and simple."

"Okay then... Alex." Suzaku smiled, holding back his laughter. Clearly there was nothing funny about her name.

"What the hell is so funny?"

"I don't know." he tried to tell her, but couldn't hold back his giggles, "I just think it's weird considering what happened earlier today."

Alex briefly glared at him, wanting to "shut his mouth" but she couldn't really do that. In a weird way, even she wanted to laugh. Probably because it was infectious. Still, Alex took a look at the time so she downed the rest of her beer and rushed out.

"Gotta go. I have to work tomorrow." Alex told him, put her coat back on and put out her hand for a handshake, "It was nice meeting you, Suzaku."

Suzaku shook the detective's hand and asked her, "Is there any chance we can do this again tomorrow night?"

She turned back and tried to come up with some excuse  _not_  to see him, "Uh, I don't know about tomorrow. But sure, I'll meet you tomorrow. Just don't make me troll the streets looking for you."

The brown haired kid smiled and nodded, "Okay. I'll meet you at your precinct."

Alex continued walked away, but she did give a thumbs up as a response. All Suzaku could do was watch her walk out and drive away but inside his head, he was happy that he was able to thank her, but he realized that he forgot to tell her something. Alas, it was too late.

* * *

_Suzaku walked all the way home. Well, more like he took the only subway back to his place in Brooklyn. Still he was tired, had to get up in the morning and tried to get the whole "questioned by the cops" thing behind him._ As Suzaku opened the door to his apartment, nothing seemed to change – it was the same old empty apartment he usually came home too; but it was not like he didn't enjoy it, he liked it quiet. He placed his jacket on the coat rack and was about to resign for the evening.

Before he entered his bedroom, he finally noticed something different. There was opera music playing in the background, which was confusing since Suzaku doesn't listen to that music – but his roommate does. He walked to the couch and noticed his roommate, C.C. lying down on the couch half asleep. Suzaku nudging her leg fully woke her up and she was surprised to see her roommate/friend come home.

"Suzaku..." C.C. said to her roommate, her voice sounded fatigued due to not having any sleep, "I didn't expect you to be home so late. You said you would be home after school."

"Yeah, I was supposed too but I just got caught up on some stuff. Took me longer to get home." he explained, hiding what happened earlier that day. "So I should be asking why you are finally home."

"I had some vocal exercises this morning, then some people wanted to hang out with me and I had some other stuff out there I had to do. Overall it was a busy day." she told him.

Personally, Suzaku calls her/referrers to her as  _C.C._ only. In all the years he has lived in New York, he has never known her actual name. Nobody knows what he real name is, maybe the people at the academy she goes too, but to the people she knows personally, it is still a mystery; even more of a mystery than her long  _lime green_  hair.

"Okay, I'm going to bed. I've had a messed up day. Good night."

"Good night." she yawned. Soon after, she went back to her regular business.

* * *

_The ensuing day, the detectives catch a lucky (yet small) break when they are informed of a suspicions man leaving her apartment room the night before. So the detectives went after him._ On their way to the crime scene, in almost no time, they witness their person of interest reading at a newsstand. They approached him but he knew cops when he saw them; so he ran. Habitually, they detectives went into pursuit of the suspect.

Detectives Cabot, Tutuola and Sergeant Munch went after him, whist Detective Stabler went the other direction, in hopes to catch him by surprise. But what the detective did not expect was the man running up to the stairway of an apartment building. He managed to get just as a person was leaving, the three detectives got in in a similar fashion. They barely were able to keep up with them and Detective Stabler already lost track of both his colleagues and the suspect.

The man made his way to the top of the building, Detective Tutuola was the first to make his way up there, followed by the next two. They watched their backs, since he could come out at any moment. They soon find him near the edge, they each took out their guns, demanding him to surrender. However, he was hyperventilating, he almost soiled himself. Muscular as he was, he didn't want to go to jail so he did what he thought was his last act.  _He jumped off the edge._

Coincidentally, Detective Stabler just happened to be near when he jumped and witnessed him land directly in a dumpster. He opened the dumpster and saw him splattered all over the inside; his head was mostly in pieces when it landed on a blunt, metal object. Scrambling his head in ways that can't be described. The three detectives make their way back downstairs where they meet Detective Stabler as he stood their near the dumpster, where the man landed.

Alex approached her colleague and asked him, "Is he okay?"

They walked to the dumpster and took a look at the newly departed. Needless to say, their job just doesn't get easy no what they try.  _Later on,_ what was the back of a decent apartment complex turned into a crime scene. The four knew that they would get their asses chewed out by the brass for letting this happen. First they had to explain themselves to their captain.

Captain Cragen looked at his detectives and asked them, "Could you explain how you let this happen?"

"He was already on the edge when we got there. There was nothing we could do." Alex explained to her commander.

"And where were  _you_ , Detective Stabler?"

"I was trying to catch him by surprise until I lost them. I saw him jump as I tried to get up there."

He nodded and figured out what to tell the  _Internal Affairs Bureau_ once they hear what happened. Although they didn't do anything, if they have the slightest suspicion that they did something wrong, then they must investigate. Fortunately, this wasn't the case. Since Elliot's statement was consistent with the medical examiner's findings, it was open and shut. At some point they had to talk to IAB.

* * *

_Later that evening, the detectives were tired out and fairly upset after they had to speak to IAB after what transpired earlier that evening. It was approx. 8:50 pm as they went back to paperwork. As Alex sat at her desk handling her priorities, she felt like she forgot something._ Meanwhile, Suzaku walked back into the 16th precinct; this time willingly. Why he came back there? It was because he expected to meet up with his somewhat new companion.

Despite being in the same precinct yesterday, he was puzzled as to where he should go. So he asked a nearby officer: "Excuse me, officer. But can you help me find Detective Cabot?"

"Sure, just wait here a second." the officer replied, racing towards the SVU squad room.

Alex was deep into some hefty work when the officer came by. He called out to the blonde detective, "Excuse me, detective? There's someone downstairs waiting for you."

"Me?" she inquired, looking around. Alex got out of her desk chair and followed the officer downstairs, where Suzaku stood there waiting for the officer to return. It did not take very long for them both to arrive back downstairs. This is where she sees Suzaku down there waiting.

The detective couldn't understand why he's here, so she walked over to him and said: "Suzaku? What are you doing here?"

He walked up to Alex and answered, "I thought we were going out for drinks again tonight. I came here to your job so you wouldn't have to come looking for me."

"Well okay. I understand why you came here waiting for me but I'm working right now." She sighed, brushing her hair back with her hand.

"Oh. Well I should have known you were still working."

Alex did not want to disappoint him since he came all the way there. She told him this, "Just give me fifteen minutes and I'll be ready. Okay?"

He nodded in agreement and Alex made her way back upstairs to finish the remaining work as fast as she can. Fourteen minutes in, she was finishing what she had left to do before she got out of there. Once she finished, she picked up her keys and jacket and headed back downstairs. Fin was sitting at his desk when he noticed that she was in a hurry.

"Going somewhere, Alex?"

"Yeah, I promised someone that I'd go somewhere with them. So I have to take off early tonight." she explained.

"Alright then, have fun." he nodded, as Alex soon got out of there.

* * *

_Alex and Suzaku drove out to basically the same bar they went to last night. As she drove out there, she noticed how silent Suzaku was, indicating some sort of regret. She saw it was nothing and kept on driving, but it was still roaming inside her head._ In almost the same scenario as yesterday evening, Suzaku sat their alone while Alex went to order them some beverages. Unbeknownst to him, she came back – only to have just  _her_ drinks.

"Hey, where's mine?" he asked the detective.

"I didn't order you anything because I'm pretty sure you're not old enough to drink." she replied, "As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure you're supposed to be in here."

"I'm 23 years old." he stated, "Also, I was here with you last night. Don't you remember?"

"Ohh. Alright then." she nodded, "But someone has to be sober so I suppose it's gonna be you."

"Figures."

"So anyways, you're 23? You must be a senior aren't you?"

"Mm-hm. I am a senior, right now I'm close to graduating."

She smiled, "That's a good thing. So what's your major?"

"I'm a law student." Suzaku told the detective.

"Oh? So you're trying to become an attorney?"

"Yeah. It just appeals to me. Protecting the law and people's rights. That's how this country was founded, right?"

"I suppose. Let me ask you a question. Judging by your name, do you come from Asian descent?"

He had nothing to hide so he said, "Yes. I'm Japanese to be more specific. I moved here years ago with my friend and his younger sister."

"You guys must have been children back then, did you three come here all alone?" Alex asked him.

"Sort of. My friend's mother brought us here to New York. My relatives back home said it would be good for me, so they let me come here."

Alex was interested by his story and was itching to learn more, "So you've been living here with your friends and their mom all these years? What about your parents? How did they feel about all this?"

"Well, my father died a long time ago. It's been so long I forgot how he died."

"And your mother?"

"I don't have a mom." he answered so bluntly.

"Oh come on, everybody  _has_  a mom? What happened to her?"

"I don't know. I never learned anything about her. What she looked like, who she was or why she wasn't there." Suzaku continued to explain, "When my father died, some of my relatives took me in for a while. Still, my best friend and his family were very kind to me. His mother is the kindest among them."

"How so?"

"Well she has treated me as one of her own for so many years. She's even paid for my tuition. When I asked her why, she just told me not to ask why, but to graduate and do something good with myself. Still, she's their mom. Not mine."

Alex was amazed how this woman gave her unconditional love to a child that wasn't even hers. But something did bother Alex. She was highly concerned that he doesn't know his mother, what made it more unsettling was that he didn't consider the woman who took care of him, a mother figure. Alex knew in her head that she had to play a role in Suzaku's life; even though he already into adulthood, plus the fact that she just met him.

"You know I can be more than a friend, Suzaku. And by that, I mean I can play the mother role. Perhaps I can be just a figure in your life." she suggested, "Although you are not an adult, you're still young. And hopefully, I can guide you to the right path."

"How thoughtful. But it is better if we start slow."

She laughed and smiled, "Sure. I suppose we can do that."

They both shared laughs for a little while. Until Suzaku remembered what he wanted to tell her last night. "Alex, I need to confess something." he said.

"What is it?"

"I think I know why might have murdered Marie." Suzaku uncovered; this catches Alex's attention and personally, she didn't even have to say anything, "Remember those guys that were beating me up? Well when I was thinking about it after I was released, I realized where those guys came from."

"Where?"

"They're this group that masks themselves as some modeling agency. They use the  _fleur-de-lis_ as their insignia. Marie came to me one day that they one of them broke into her place and branded her with it. That was why she wanted me to walk her home."

Everything was falling into piece with every word; but Alex had questions, "When we found her, she was beaten around. And the autopsy revealed that she died of cardiac arrest via a shot of potassium chloride. Can you explain that stuff?"

"They find all sorts of ways to kill the people that don't give them their money. Normally they don't beat them to death so I can't really tell you how she got jacked up like that. Their scheme is to trick, extort and/or kill whoever is stupid to 'sign' with them."

"How do you know this?" she wondered.

"One of my friends told me about a story where a pretty girl signed with a modeling agency and then within weeks, wound up dead. Rumors say she described it in her diary, but nobody has ever seen it."

This was all surreal to her. This was a break like none other not only for her, but the other detectives. As long as they were on the subject, she might as well get as much information as possible.

"Okay, how can I reach them?"

"If I remember correctly, Marie had a card from them. It all sounds legit, just call them and schedule a appointment. Just find it and nail them."

Alex got up, grabbed her belonging and said, "Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow."

Just before Alex walked out of there, Suzaku stopped her and asked, "Will you be able to nail those bastards?"

"I hope so." Alex couldn't assure that they'll be able to punish her killers. But what she did assure him that she could at least try.  _With Alex gone, how is Suzaku suppose to get home? Oh wait..._

* * *

**End of Chapter Two**


	3. Exposed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The detectives catch a hot lead on their homicide investigation, which leads them to go undercover; Suzaku introduces his girlfriend to Alex.

_This night wasn't like all nights, this night was something different. How so? Because Alex had actually made a new friend. Although Suzaku is way younger than her, age doesn't seem to matter in this case. Her world was interesting but his world was something else._ The same night he had another get-together with Detective Alex Cabot, Suzaku did what he did before – go home. This time as he entered the apartment, he noticed how much of a mess it was.

He walked up to the couch to find C.C. lazily sitting on the couch, reading a book and wolfing pizza in her mouth. Suzaku grabbed her attention by shutting off the music and got into her about the mess.

"C.C.? The hell happened in here?"

"Oh yeah, I didn't know if you were gonna cook anything, so I ordered a pizza." she replied, maintaining her nonchalant expression.

There was one inaccuracy in her story, which he pointed out, " _A_  pizza? How about a  _dozen_  pizzas. We've talked about this, don't order more than you can consume."

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear any of that. By the way, where have you been?"

Suzaku looked away from the green haired girl and said, "None of your concern."

"Let me guess, were you out with your  _girlfriend_  again?" she teased.

Knowing she was doing this to push his buttons, he responded, "I wasn't with her tonight. I was out with a new friend."

"New friend? Interesting." C.C. smirked, swinging her legs back and forth as then she asked, "What's his name?"

" _Her_  name is Alexandra Cabot." he told her.

"Oh a lady friend? Isn't your girlfriend gonna be upset now that you're making female friends? Also, who is this girl?" C.C. asked him.

"She's not necessarily a girl, more like a woman." He described, sort of, "Also, she won't be upset. Besides, she's okay with me living with you, so what's the difference?"

"You better hope for your sake it doesn't." she said bluntly, getting up she walked to her room and said, "I'm gonna call it a night. Good night, Suzaku."

C.C. resigned to her bedroom, leaving Suzaku to clean up the overwhelming mess that she created. It was already gonna be another long night.

 _The following day, after receiving some information that will greatly help their case, Alex came back to SVU eager to give her commander and fellow detectives the info she obtained._  The detectives sat at their respective desks doing daily paperwork when Alex came in the squad room with anticipation as she was about to tell them something that will help.

"Good... afternoon, Alex." Cragen greeted his detective, noting how late she is.

"I apologize for my tardiness, captain. I've been up all night. But I have some important news that will link us to the suspects in the  _Gordon case_."

They were intrigued by this announcement and looked to hear more. Alex brought out the dry erase board to help her explain this to them. Alex got started with, "Now this our victim,  _Marie_   _Gordon._ Her case links to six other cold cases, four of them fall in the same age range as the victim. Two of which were in their mid thirties. There is also a seventh victim, a 21- year old male from Suffolk County. He has yet to be found."

"So these seven are all linked. Which means we must be dealing with a serial killer."

"You're right, but also wrong. I did some all-night digging and found out they all signed a contract with a company called,  _Three Kisses Modeling Agency._  There is a pattern with the first six victims, all found beaten but died of other causes."

Whist she explained her finding, Sergeant Munch searched up the agency and told her, "I found the agency. Seems as though everything seems legit. However, I searched the address listed and it sent me to a warehouse. I also traced the second address and this time it led me to an apartment complex in the Bronx."

Just like their captain, Elliot wanted to know a couple things, "So who the hell is in charge of this operation? What is their motive?"

"Their motive is to extort hundreds and if not, thousands of dollars from people that are gullible enough to sign with their agency." Alex told the detective and turned her attention to the masterminds, "Here are the three masterminds:  _Andy_   _Garrett, 52._ Convicted of tax evasion, got out several years ago. _Stewart Fisher, 41._  Convicted of sexual assault, served only half of his sentence. And _Charlie Garrett, 29._ Has no criminal record whatsoever, but works at a lab where he could possibly gain access to all sorts of drugs."

"Anything on the warehouse?"

"Yes. Last year, 911 received a call about suspicious activity. Patrol got there, and discovered a drug lab. It been closed even since but it was acquired earlier this year. But there was several more calls of suspicious activity and another regarding a disturbance in the last six months."

"So do you think this is enough grounds for a search warrant?"

"Well due to the its history with the drugs, it could help. But you'll have to talk to Barba about it, perhaps he can get a warrant for the warehouse and apartment. Just give him a convincing argument."

"So how else should we approach this, detective?" Cragen asked her.

"My current plan is to go undercover and catch these three in the act." she suggested, "Present them with a aspiring model, that's not only inflated but gullible."

"Are you sure you want to go undercover and catch these men? You should know that this could be dangerous."

"Don't worry about me, sir. I'll be fine." she smiled.

Even though he was worried about her, he knew she could hold her own. Overall, this would go perfect if they planned it out precisely.

_The next evening was something else. The detectives took all day yesterday to conduct a fool-proof operation that will not only take down a fake agency, but serve justice to six (or possibly seven) people that were killed just for getting themselves involved. They called the agency, the only thing about them that was legit and scheduled a meeting with the three the following evening. Rest assured, they will be prepared._

Meanwhile at the bar where Alex and Suzaku usually socialized, this time Suzaku was alone. He was having one of the worse days he has had in recent memory and all that could hold him over was the bottle. Though he wasn't much of a drinker (ironically, he could hold his alcohol well), he might as well get himself a beer and watch the game from the bar.

As his attention was directed at the television screen, a young woman (no older than him) walked over and sat down next to him. But she wasn't just some random lady. She was his girlfriend, _Kallen Kozuki._  She and Suzaku had been together for the last couple years. Her family moved to New York almost a year after he did; they were also friends back when they lived in their native Japan.

"Usually you'd find other ways to evade the bottle when you're down." Kallen said to her boyfriend, startling him.

"Hey, Kallen." he greeted, kissing her cheek. "So what are you doing here?"

"C.C. said you'd be here so I thought I'd surprise you. Guess it worked." She then laughed at his expense, then said, "By the way, I trolled the campus and heard that you got your ass kicked by a bunch of guys. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." he replied. Kallen knew that something was an issue just by the tone of his voice.

"No, you're not. I know how you work, Suzaku. You are not okay."

As much as Suzaku tried to deny it, he couldn't hide it from her. Especially since she could read him like a book. Kallen would later ask him, "So school kicking you in the ass?"

"As usual. But I'm close to graduation and then I'll be that close to getting my license to practice law."

"Well I hope you become an attorney. Then you could finally live up to your promise."

"It wasn't much of a promise, just a personal goal of mine. But I suppose it could happen."

Kallen was happy to hear that so she raised his head, leaned over and kisses him. They couple held there for a great moment until they separated and in time as some of the people, including the bartender had no plans to see any lovey stuff in the bar. Soon after they stopped, Kallen saw the changed expression on his face and said:

"I guess that worked. Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom."

She got up from the bar stool and headed for the facilities, leaving Suzaku to stay put and wait for her to return.  _Meanwhile_ , Alex, Munch and Fin were out driving to the nearby hotel where they were going to go undercover and apprehend a trio of criminals. The questionable thing about this was that they were driving there when it would've been simpler just to walk there. Yet again, it would've also took longer.

Nonetheless, the wound up stopping at a nearby bar when Alex noticed someone inside – that person was Suzaku. Because she was driving, she stopped to go say hello, even though they were needed soon. Munch and Fin weren't going to wait in the car, so they followed her along.

As Alex walked up to Suzaku, the two noticed that it was the same person that they questioned not so long ago. Alex surprised him by saying, "Suzaku, hey!"

He turned around to see the blonde detective, so he also greeted, "Hi, Alex. Didn't expect you to be here."

"Well, I was around until I saw you here so I came in to say hello."

"That's kind." Suzaku turned over and noticed Sergeant Munch and Detective Tutuola giving him a neutral look – at least that's what he thought was neutral. "I know you two. Aren't those the two men you work with back at that precinct?"

"Yes they are." Alex confirmed, bringing the two over to introduce, "Suzaku, this is Detective Tutuola and Sergeant Munch. Guys, I sure you know that this is Suzaku Kururugi."

"Nice to formally meet you, detectives." he let out his hand for a handshake from either one of them, until Fin eventually abides.

"Yeah, nice to meet your acquaintance."

Unlike Fin, Munch actually wanted to introduce himself to the young man, "Nice to meet you, Suzaku. And I would to say on behalf of all the American people that we apologize for those bombs."

The comment triggered Fin to smack him upside the head, then he said, "Sorry about our dumbass friend. Just so you know he isn't racist."

"That's okay. Does he always say things like this?"

"Most of the crap he yaps about usually has something to do with conspiracy." Fin explained.

"Well they seem like nice men." Suzaku told Alex. She looked at them and nodded, agreeing with him. Alex was about to say something until Kallen return from the bathroom, only to see Suzaku talking to three people, none of them whom she recognized.

Kallen walked back over and asked him, "Suzaku, who are these guys?"

"Well, these three detectives came in to see me, that's all." he answered.

"What does the police want with you?"

To clear all the confusion, Munch stepped forward and told the red haired girl, "We're friends of his. We only came in here to say hello."

"Yeah, we are." Fin added and let out his hand, "Detective Tutuola. This is Detective Alex Cabot and Sergeant John Munch."

"Nice to meet you." Kallen said, shaking the detective's hand. She turned around over to Alex, where she let out her hand and said, "Nice to meet you too."

Alex was hesitant as she felt something suspicious about her. She could not describe it. She didn't know if it was her scent, her body language or whatever it was but all she knew was that Kallen rubbed her the wrong way – mentally that is. It wasn't until Suzaku snapped her back into reality when she realized that she accidentally blacked out.

The detective returned from her daze and shook her hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh well... thanks. I thought I'd lost you there."

Alex nodded and took a moment to herself to think. And reminded her colleagues, "Hey we need to get out there right now."

"Out where?" Suzaku inquired.

"None of your business." Munch answered. To make up his rudeness, Alex told him:

"We're doing some special police business. Seeing as though you two seem alright, we might bring you along."

"Really? Won't that be dangerous?" Suzaku asked the blonde detective.

"Don't worry. It's not like we're going to allow civilians to get entangled in something like this. Just come on."

The couple took a glimpse at their beverages and it occurred to them that they haven't paid for them yet. Suzaku made note of this, "But first, let us pay the bartender."

An impatient Alex took out her wallet and gave the bartender a couple bills. Then she took hold of Suzaku's arm and said, "Come on, let's go."

Although Suzaku didn't really think it was a good idea, he didn't object to it either. He and Kallen followed the detectives out the bar and into Alex's vehicle.  _The detectives parked outside a hotel, but far enough to assure that they couldn't make them out before they entered. They weren't alone however, as there were other detectives that were undercover inside and tactical forces waiting (hiding) in rooms outside the conference room where their meeting was held_

_Earlier that day, Detective Stabler and Captain Cragen took a visit to the District Attorney's office where they would meet with Rafael Barba, their ADA. They needed to search their properties in order to find something that can put the nail in the coffin. As the three walked to find the judge, Barba asked them._

" _Is there anything else that I need to know before a bother a judge?"_

" _Well once of my detectives found surveillance photos placing one of the suspects at the crime scene. The person in the photo is the same person who bought the warehouse." Cragen told the ADA._

" _Interesting."_

" _Is that enough, counselor?"_

_Now as they were up in front of one of the judges' office, he replied, "That's not up to me, it's up to a judge. Wait here and I'll let you know."_

The three detectives waited outside for at least almost two hours. The night was damp to say the least and it was lightly pouring. Suzaku sat in the back with Munch and Kallen while the other two sat in the front. As she waited, Alex received a phone call.

"Hello?" she answered. Hearing some interesting details, she said back, "You did? Great well. I see the men walking inside. We'll enter the hotel in no less than fifteen minutes. Okay, bye."

She hung up the phone then Fin asked her, "Who was that?"

"That was Stabler. He and the captain obtained the search warrant to raid the warehouse and all their residences." she told them, "They not only found evidence linking them to the murders, but found several pieces of evidence that links the agency to nine other cold cases."

"Does that mean we don't have to go undercover?"

"No we still have to make this case solid. We have to catch them before someone at that agency tips them off."

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go."

The detectives got out of the car, but Alex took a moment to tell Suzaku and Kallen, "You two stay right here. Matter of fact, you two come with us."

Munch and Fin were slightly getting irritated for letting them tag along with them. But Alex knew better than that; she said earlier that she wasn't going to allow civilians to be caught in the crossfire. Her true motive is unknown and they knew that it was best to stay out of their way. For their sake.

They walk in with Munch and Fin heading towards the elevator, Alex directed the couple to the lobby. She forcefully sat them down on the couch and said, "Do not move from this couch. Stay put and out of our way. Understand?"

They both nodded. Alex let go and joined them in the elevator, taking them up to a high floor. Which one is unspecified. Anyways, Alex let them go in first as part of their plan. When the detectives entered, they were confronted by the three men that masterminded this alleged business. Behind them was a single guard, who didn't even bother to check for weapons. Since they've gotten away with this for so long, they sought it unnecessary.

Anyways, they introduced themselves. Starting with the first one (the oldest), "What a pleasure to meet you gentlemen."

"It is a pleasure to meet you too." Munch replied, shaking the man's hand. Inside, he wanted to vomit just by looking at him.

The second man (the second oldest), approached Fin and introduced himself, "I'm glad to meet you, sir. We heard that you are interested in our services."

He extended his arm for a handshake. He didn't give him one.

"So where is the aspiring model?" the (oldest) head man asked them.

"Oh yes, wait a minute." answered the sergeant. He walked out to the door and called out, "Luna, come here please."

Alex, who was waiting outside, answered to the pseudonym and said, "Oh sorry, someone was hitting on me."

"Nice to meet you, miss." the second man greeted, kissing her hand. Alex nearly cringed when his lips touched her hand. With introductions out of the way, they got to business.

"So I hear you are interested in joining our agency?"

"Yes I am, it has been tiring for me. Finding an agency that won't screw me over, when I found this one I immediately decided to give it a chance."

"Don't worry. There will be no  _screwing_  with us."

 _As the "deal" was underway,_ Suzaku sat patiently in the lobby with Kallen. This time gave him a chance to think about his current situation; he was unsure that Kallen would accept Alex as his new friend and also was concerned that Alex wasn't very fond of Kallen. But all these thoughts ran in his head as she rested on his shoulder, toying around with her phone.

Kallen yawned out of boredom and said, "I'm bored, Suzaku. Why are we still standing here?"

"Didn't you hear her? We need to stay out of their way."

"Well, we can do something but not get in their way."

"What do you mean?" She did not answer him because she got up and walked to the desk. Suzaku wanted to call her back over before Alex returned but after a quick talk, Kallen walked back over to him with something in her hand.

She grabbed his wrist, pulled him off the couch and said, "Come on, I wanna take you somewhere."

All this was happening way too fast for Suzaku and now the one thing that ran through his mind was what she was planning on doing.  _Meanwhile, Alex, Munch and Fin (still undercover) were talking through the details, hoping one of them incriminates themselves. Everything was going well to say the least._ The three men were in their smug positions, while trying to make Alex sign that contract. If she signed it, that meant they owned her.

"Now just sign there and we can get this thing finalized." the older man instructed.

Alex played it carefully and made it look like she was about to sign, however Munch took hold of her wrist and told them, "Now wait here, if my girl is gonna sign this, then at least let her read it."

"There is no time to go through the details. Time is valuable with us."

They two began an mild argument whist Alex looked through the papers.  _And that is when she saw it, the same mark that was found on Marie's body._  As soon as she was this, she stopped everything and told them, "Hey! It's okay. Now this is my decision, and I will sign."

"Good. Now let's see your John Hancock on there."

"Alright then." She placed her pen on the paper and wrote a false name on the paper. With that done Alex said, "It's a done deal."

Then suddenly, about a dozen heavily loaded SWAT officers busted in the room, startling them. They soon discover it was all a set-up as Munch and Fin took out their guns, and Alex pinning the older one down to the table.

" _Andy and Charles Garrett,_ you're under arrest for the murder of Marie Gordon." Alex proceeded to read their Miranda rights, while another officer arrested the youngest one, "You have the right to remain silent, if you give up that right, anything you say will be used against you in the court of law."

"We'll be out, you bitch."

In response to his insult, Alex tightened the handcuffs and said further, "You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you."

As they were being escorted out, they noticed one of them was missing. The second man managed to sneak away from the detectives and SWAT officers and escape – but not for long. As soon as he made a break for it, he was welcomed by Detective Stabler and more specifically – his fist. After knocking him out cold, Elliot who was accompanied by Captain Cragen, smiled:

"I never get tired of doing that."

"What if that was one of our own?" Cragen exclaimed.

Elliot took a knee to arrest the unconscious suspect and told the captain, "Well, lets be glad I got lucky."

 _Meanwhile,_  Kallen took Suzaku several stories up to the building apparently to show him something. He had no idea what she was planning but all he knew was he didn't actually say no to it. Suddenly their destination ended when she stopped at one of the rooms. For some reason, she had the key to the room. They enter the dark room where Suzaku took this time to ask her something.

"Kallen, what are we doing here?"

"I want to... do something with you."

He was confused to say the least so he asked, "What do you mean by that?"

She answered his question with a sudden kiss. Although he was caught off-guard, he wrapped his arms around her to let her know. Know what? Exactly. Kallen dragged him down to the bed and stopped the kiss. They exchanged eye contact for a moment but she wanted to to tell him something.

"Suzaku, I need you right now. I know you need me." she whispered, sliding her fingers in his hair, "Let tonight be our night. Lets take this might for ourselves."

It all happened so fast through his perspective. After those words, everything just happened just like that. And when he found his shirtless self on the bed in front of his girlfriend, perhaps it was meant to happen. He looked down at her naked body and asked:

"Are you sure you want me to do this?"

She smiled and nodded. And then, everything turned dark in his eyes.

* * *

**End of Chapter Three**


	4. Disapproval

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Suzaku's new-found friendship suddenly hits a pothole when Alex objects to Suzaku's relationship with Kallen.

_Last night was not only stressful but tiring too. The four detectives apprehended the suspects linked to the murder of Marie Gordon. The entire night was full of interrogation, abbreviated sleep, and dozens cups of coffee. Suffice to say, it was another night in the SVU squad room. Luckily for them, they were able to make one of them spill the beans and rat out the rest of them. That was a huge break to say the least. Anyways, it hit the 9 AM mark when they finally got a confession. At least from one of them._

_ADA Rafael Barba greeted Detective Cabot with a cup of coffee and said to her, "So how is things looking so far?"_

_Taking a sip of coffee, she replied, "So far, Charlie confessed to supplying the chemicals used to kill Marie. And we already have enough evidence from the warehouse raid and the sting. What do you think?"_

" _We got the confession from the younger one, I can charge him with facilitating her murder. My question is, who was the one that killed her and did any of them confess to the other murders?"_

" _They didn't exactly confess to that, however we ran Fisher's DNA – direct match to three of the five rapes in our cold cases."_

" _And the other five?"_

" _No match to any of them." she answered, "But we searched the apartment last night, found a knife cleverly hidden in a pillow that could link to the missing person. CSU told us that they found blood and skin tissue on the knife, we're running it to see if it is a match."_

" _This could be easier than I thought." he smirked, looking at the evidence that she presented._

" _Probably not, but I would love to see them strapped to a chair but I'll live with twenty five to life or no parole."_

" _Well, someone being a little cocky. Reminds me of your snark."_

_Alex chuckled, "I suppose that what get me through this job. I thought I would sink. Skepticism right?"_

_Suddenly, Sergeant Munch came over to them to try and tell Alex something urgent. And this was something that he did not realize until just now. "Hey Alex, do you know where Suzaku and his friend went? Did we come back for them?"_

" _I thought Fin picked them up." she assumed._

" _Sorry, I just talked to Fin, he thought you did and told me to ask you."_

_Barba was confused by their conversation so he asked, "I'm sorry, but who's Suzaku?"_

_They didn't have time to explain but Alex did shout at Fin, "Fin! We gotta go back to the hotel!"_

" _Way ahead of you." said Fin, who already had his coat on._

_They three detectives returned to the hotel and searched for Suzaku and Kallen. First they searched around the area then finally into the hotel lobby. The three detective ran over to the manager that was behind the desk and Alex asked him:_

" _Excuse me, have you seen two people come in here last night?"_

" _Could you be specific?"_

_Fin walked over and described them, "There was one male, brown hair. And one female, red hair. Which room did they go into?"_

" _I'm sorry. But even if I recognize them, I cannot disclose that information." The hotel manager explained. Alex took out her badge as identification. Now that he knew that they were police, he revealed to them, "I didn't see a brown haired male over here last night, but the red head you described was at the lobby, requesting a room. I didn't see where she went but I can give you the hotel."_

" _Okay then, could you write it down for us?" Alex asked him; With the information they received, they went searching for their room. Upon arriving at the door, they knocked on the front door, hoping someone would answer._

_But when their knocking was to no avail, the manager opened the door for them. When they entered the room, they found the couple naked in the bed with only the sheets covering them. They were surprised when they saw the detectives in their room and were both embarrassed that they found them this way._

" _Alex? What are you doing here?" Suzaku inquired._

" _I should be asking you where you've been." she answered._

" _Hey, don't bust his balls." Kallen quickly defended him, "I brought him out here because you guys were gone. Besides, it's not like you guys literally searched for us all night."_

" _Missy, please don't start with me."_

" _What? Who are you calling Missy?" she exasperated._

_Now things were turning into a fight, as Munch and Fin sat behind her watching, Suzaku stepped in and shouted, "Hey, hey! Now I don't want you two fighting, alright? Now, let us get dressed and we'll come with you."_

_Fifteen minutes later, Suzaku and Kallen walked back to the hotel lobby where Alex, Munch and Fin patiently waited. They did not exchange any words but Kallen was taken home by Munch and Fin while Suzaku was taken to school by Alex. As she drove out to Hudson University, he sat in the back seat, disgruntled and Alex had no type of emotion._

_It was long before Alex asked him, "Now what the hell is the matter with you? I told to wait for us but you went off to have sex with your girlfriend."_

" _It's not like you guys were even coming back."_

" _We would have come back, but it is not about that. You practically defied me when I asked you to do something simple. What if one of those crooks came in and held you two hostage? All I asked for was for you to listen to one thing and you didn't."_

_That's where Suzaku drew offense to her comments, "What the hell do you mean? You act as though I broke a big rule but in reality, I just get myself and Kallen out of harm's way. It would've been no different if we sat in the lobby. Secondly, what the hell was that back there? I really don't appreciate it when you talk to her like that."_

" _Well all I was doing was looking after you. And if not for my job, I would've come back for you two."_

_As they drove up to the school, Suzaku told her this one thing, "Well that's not how you do it. Besides, if you want to look after me, then don't. Because your not my mother."_

_Alex sat over there, trying to absorb his comment. Those words make her angry but when she spoke, there was no expression in her voice, "Get out. We're here."_

_He looked at her and tried to see the look on her face, but he got out of the car and headed to class. He was never able to see her face, as she drove off as soon as he got out. And even then, Alex did not show any emotion as she drove back to work. Watching her drive away, Suzaku felt bad about what he said. He wished he could apologize – but it was too late._

_**-The Next Day-** _

Alex was still disgruntled over yesterday and it carried for the entire day and even today. She sat at her desk, still thinking about it. She wanted to try and find him so she could apologize, but after thinking it through, she believed it was pointless. However, while she sulked in pity, the other detectives were starting to have a conversation with the captain.

"So any updates on the case? How did arraignment go?" he asked Munch and Elliot.

"Currently, two of them plead not guilty. The other is taking responsibility for what he did." Elliot informed his captain.

"Go figure." Munch remarked.

Then, Fin walked in the squad room, very happy with himself. Why? Because there was some news he had to tell them. "Yo, guys. I got some news for y'all."

"I already heard of the news, Fin. Congratulations." Cragen told him, extending his arm for a handshake. Munch and Elliot however, didn't know what was going on.

"Okay. What happened, Fin?" Elliot asked. He did not answer him with words, but let his new badge do all the talking; earlier that morning, Fin was promoted from Detective to Sergeant. "You were promoted today? That's great."

"Yeah, looks as though we have two sergeant detectives here at SVU. At least those that I know of."

Even though Fin was kind of happy, he saw Alex sitting at her desk and she was no where near a good mood. Not even close. Alex walked away from her desk and out somewhere else; concerned, Fin excused himself and followed her. When he found her, she leaning against the one-way window. He approached her to try and ask what's wrong,even though they don't talk that much. But should that matter?

"Morning, Alex." he greeted, but Alex didn't respond, "Are you okay?"

She sighed deeply and opened up to him, "Oh it's Suzaku. I offended him yesterday and I haven't spoken to him since then."

"What did you say to him? Was it racist?"

"Oh no, nothing like that." she chuckled, "It was something about me berating him about his girlfriend and that I was acting like I was his mother."

"I can't necessarily say what his problem is, but don't you think you might have taken it a bit far?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I heard what you two said back in the hotel and all I saw was just an argument. I don't know what you said about his girl after the fact, but I do know that all you said was you did not insult her. But back to the mother thing, if he doesn't want you to act like his mom, you should probably back off."

"So you're siding with him?" she assumed.

"I didn't say that. I'm only saying that you need to stay on his good side. Even though you were angry, no body is truly to blame. All I know is, he counts on you to be his friend, not a parent. But that doesn't mean you can protect him like one. You have to earn his trust, Alex."

Thinking about it, he was right. She did not realize how she was acting until now. "You're right. I shouldn't be upset. I should try to tell him that I'm sorry."

"Do what you gotta do." he shrugged.

"Thanks, Fin." she smiled. But she was curious about one thing, "By the way, what makes you such an expert?"

"I've dealt with similar stuff with my son. I'm just glad that we're on good terms."

Alex smiled and walked out; this time to go and find him. But the search for him might not be as simple as she thinks. She doesn't know where he lives and has only met him at bars but knows where his goes to school. So that was the first place she looked.

_At Hudson University, Detective Cabot searched for Suzaku effortlessly. After an hour of searching, she assumed that he wasn't at school today. However, after talking to his teacher, she explained that she saw him in class but overheard him talking to another student about hanging around campus. So, she went to campus police and requested them to bring him over to her; she instructed them not to tell him who wanted him. Better than searching for him for another hour._

After campus police searched and escorted Suzaku with them, he didn't know what was going on this time. So far, it was the second time that he was brought in by police. As they brought him in headquarters, he is confronted by Alex, who made herself a little comfortable, reading a book and had a cup of coffee.

"Alex, what are you doing here?"

She got up, put down the coffee and book and replied, "I-I came to talk to you. Even though you probably don't want too."

"Well actually, I wanted to go to the precinct after class and tell  _you_  something."

"Really? What did you wanted to tell me?" she asked.

Suzaku looked down but looked back up and answered, "I wanted to apologize."

"Apologize? No kidding, I came here to apologize." she laughed.

They found this incredibly ironic, which Suzaku revealed, "Seriously? I had this whole speech ready about how much of an ass I was and that I was sorry."

"Yeah, I wanted to apologize for how I acted too. I know you need space and I just wanted to think of me as a mother figure."

They shared a good, long laugh out of how ironic the situation. Technically, they apologized to each other and judging from the smiles they exchanged to one another, all was forgiven. They didn't say anything to each other but Alex took him with her – this time on good intentions.

Although Alex did need to return to work, Suzaku took the time to ask her, "Hey Alex? How about next week, you can come and hang out with me and my roommate?"

She wanted to spend time with her new friend in a atmosphere that didn't include alcohol. So she answered, "Alright. How about my day off next Sunday, we spend some time at your place then hang out some more in Midtown, how's that?"

"That sounds okay. Sure, let's do that." he nodded, "But will I see you tomorrow?"

"I'll see you when I can, Suzaku. Don't worry." she smiled, walking away from him and heading back to work. Suzaku went back to some of his classmates but during the walk back, he was glad that he was able to tell her how sorry he was. Even though it wasn't the way either of them expected, whichever way works. Still, his friendship with Alex survived it first obstacle and that is what matters to both of them.

* * *

**End of Chapter Four**


	5. Simplicity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On a day off, Alex and Suzaku spend the day together, getting along and learning more anout each other; meanwhile, Sergeants Munch and Tutuola discover something surprising.

_Over the past week of work and borderline stress, Detective Alex Cabot has enjoyed the companionship of Suzaku – and he enjoyed her company too. Although their friendship was something that was a little unexplainable to her colleagues, that did not stop Alex from spending time with someone that was half her age. So far, there was not boundaries between them and since then, it has solidified their chemistry. Up to today, perhaps the rest can go unsaid._

It was an amazing Sunday afternoon in Manhattan; the sun was out, it was partly cloudy and most of the detectives had the day off. This was the only day where they did not see each other. While the rest of them were either sitting at home getting some sleep, or out in the city, Alex drove all the way to Brooklyn to meet up with a friend. Plus one.

In a seemingly okay apartment building, Alex walked to the floor where his place resided. She checked the address Suzaku gave her to see if it was correct. It all checked out which should since she was in front of the door. She knocked on the door, expecting someone to open the door. Nobody answered the door so she knocked harder. Then she heard someone walking by; she simply thought it just one of the other tenants.

The person tapped her shoulder which of course, startled her. Alex turned around and it was actually Suzaku, holding a laundry basket. She gasped, "Damn it, Suzaku. You scared me."

"Sorry about that. How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long, if that's what you're asking." she replied, "Anyways, could you..."

"Oh yes, hold on a sec." Suzaku handed her the basket so he could open the door, "Once again, sorry about that."

"No problem." Alex took her first step in his apartment and suffice to say, what she saw did not ride well with her. The place was mostly a mess, something that even bothered Suzaku, "Oh my god, this place looks like a tornado ran through it."

"I apologize. My roommate was supposed to clean up, but I think she disappeared somewhere. Let me find her." he told Alex; he searched the place for his roommate, who neglected to clean  _their_ apartment. He found her easily in her room, but apparently only her room was clean so far; "Hey! Get up, C.C."

She was lying on her bed, reading about medieval torture when he came in. She replied, "What do you want? I've already cleaned my room, what else do you want?"

"You forgot the living room. And I have company."

C.C. looked out into the living room and saw Alex standing there, she saw this as an incredible opportunity to embarrass him in front of his new friend. She leaped out of bed and weaseled herself away from Suzaku so she could greet Alex.

"Hello there, Alexandra is it?" she greeted her, shaking her hand, "Suzaku has said many things about you."

"Nice to... meet you." Alex replied. So far, she was indifferent to her behavior.

Suzaku grew impatient with C.C. as she purposely ignored him, "Hey, clean this damn mess!" he shouted.

"How rude. Anyways, he has said so many things about you, if you like to hear it."

"Thank you but I don't wish to hear it." Alex insisted, "Besides, if I did want to hear it, I'm sure that none of it would be true."

"Trust me, whatever lie it was, it was not true." he added; Alex looked around the living room of the apartment and seeing how Suzaku was pressuring C.C. to clean up the mess, she had a suggestion.

"Okay, we don't need to go anywhere just yet. But judging from how things are, why not I help clean up with you two. Then we can go."

This proposal was enticing to both of them, and they didn't think it was a bad idea. They nodded in agreement and proceeded to clean the apartment together.  _It was only 2:30 and Alex was only there for at least an hour and so far, she did not like the condition of Suzaku's apartment. It consisted of mostly hidden pizza boxes, misplaced trash among other things she had come across. In her mind, she had no idea how two people could make such a mess on their own._

Picking up a moldy pizza box, Alex exclaimed, "How can two people eat  _this_ much junk food be themselves?"

Suzaku was carrying a half-full trash bag when he replied, "You're looking at the wrong person."

His comment was directed towards C.C., who was fishing things out of the couch, such as several dollars, missing pens and pencils and even the remote to the television. She ignored his comment against her and proceeded to vacuum the inside of the couch. At least thirty minutes later, they successfully managed to get the place looking great. After they were done, Alex seemed pretty happy with herself; C.C. didn't care either way.

"Well this place looks better than before." she stated; Suzaku nodded and walked into his room for a second, where as soon as he opened the door, a cat suddenly leaped at him and started biting his ankle. This caught both C.C. and Alex's attention, "Oh my god! Suzaku, are you alright?"

He tried to hold back the pain as much as he could. He picked up the cat and answered, "Yeah, I'm alright. This is Arthur, my cat."

"Oh really?" She walked over to the cat and softly petted the animal, "How long have you had him?"

"Ever since he was a kitten. About eight years, if I remember." he told her, "I brought this little guy with me when I came here. I've kept him because he reminded me of someone I knew."

"Well, okay then. Do you want to go?"

"Yeah. Let me put him away and we'll go, okay?"

"Alright." she nodded.

_Alex took them in her car and drove back to Manhattan. There was something about the ride over because throughout the entire way there, they did not exchange any words to each other, which mildly concerned her. As they made their way into Midtown Manhattan, needless to say there was more dialogue than during the drive._

Suzaku took a good look around and was overwhelmed by everything that surrounded him – even so, this comment surprised even Alex, "You know, in all my years in New York, I've never been in this part of Manhattan."

Shocking as it was, Alex replied, "Seriously? You've never been out here?"

"Nope. Never once have I been here. And I've lived in Manhattan longer than I've lived in Brooklyn."

"I've heard of people who've lived in this borough, yet have never been to the Statue of Liberty." she told him; and it is common, "But since this is your first time ever here in Midtown, how about I show you some of the signature spots?"

"That's sounds great." he smiled, "How about you, C.C?"

She showed no desire of seeing of it. Call her cynical, but she has a reason. Any who, she did reply, "Suzaku, I personally don't care. I've been here more times that I can remember."

_Meanwhile_ , somewhere around Midtown Manhattan, Sergeants Munch and Tutuola were the only ones that did not have the day off, as they were assigned to handle a kidnapping that happened the night before today. It did suck to be them of all people but that was just how it was.

They were out to see who was around that witnessed the kidnapping that night, which was why there were out in Midtown. It has been two hours since then and they have not found anyone who knew what happened, and the ones that were around or heard something suspicious, wasn't gonna say anything. That was the downside of finding witnesses. Luckily, they found a person who actually could help them – more specifically, the witness found _them_.

"Can you tell us what you saw last night?" Munch asked the young woman.

"Well, I was just out here minding my own business. Soon as I turned around, I saw someone being forced into a truck." the woman explained, "I tried to stop it, but I was too busy watching my boyfriend. He has a knack for luring other girls."

"Could you give us a description?"

She tried to remember what happened that night, but it was to no avail. "I'm sorry, I could barely see the person's face or anything in particular, but I did recognize the truck."

Fin asked the young woman, "What did the truck look like?"

"It was dark red, and looked like one of those old Chevy trucks. Not that old and the sidewall was partially cracked and rusted."

Writing all the details in his notebook, Munch told her, "Thank you very much."

She returned to shopping now that the detectives had their information. Wasn't much but every piece mattered. Munch and Fin walked back to the car, to return to the precinct. But as he was walking back into the car, Fin noticed something strange. He turned around and saw two people inside a shop; he walked a few steps forward to see if it could help, but didn't work. Instead, Fin took out his phone and zoomed in for a closer look.

He saw a girl with suspiciously familiar hair, being accompanied by a male that was taller than her. He waited for her to turn around but was stunned when he realized that it was really Kallen in there. This also confused him, because the person she was with looked nothing like her or even indicated that he was a relative. Clearly this made him curious as to who he was but while he was watching her from afar, Munch called out:

"Hey, Fin. What are you looking at?"

He snapped out of it and replied, "Nothing. Let's go."

They go back into their car and drive off. But his suspicions were still large to say the least. _It was early in the evening, and so far, things have been incredibly enjoyable for Alex and Suzaku. He loved her company and she did too, but there was one person that did not want to be there with them. Perhaps not everybody likes her._

They were all over Manhattan throughout the afternoon, so now they simply watched the sun set in Central Park. All throughout the day, they shopped or looked in various stores, exchanged some banter amongst the many things they did that day. The blonde detective, her young male companion and his green haired roommate sat in the grass, taking it all in. Alex couldn't remember when she has a peaceful time like this. It felt nice.

But C.C. expressed her feelings towards the entire day, "You know, ma'am. You've failed to keep my interest today. If anything, I could be doing something more productive with my time."

Alex was slightly offended by her comments. Apparently, this was not the first negative thing that has spewed out of her mouth. "Alright, young lady. So far, you have been testing my patience today. Just because you aren't having a nice time out, doesn't mean we shouldn't. I'm sorry I tried to catch your attention, but if you don't want to be here, then you can leave."

"Really? Listen here, Alexandra. I sorry you could convince me to be your friend, but don't get snappy with me."

As much as she did not want to give in, she kept pushing her. Up until the point where she got up and told her calmly, "First of all, you will call me Alex. Or Detective Cabot, if you wish to be formal. Secondly, I wasn't trying to be a  _friend._  Now if you did not want to come here, then you shouldn't have agreed to come along."

She glared at Alex for a moment, then left Central Park disgruntled. Alex wished that she didn't need to say that, but disrespect was something she was unable to tolerate. Luckily, she did not have to lose her temper and snap at her. Suzaku watched without saying a word; in a way, he wished that she did not behave the way she did. And now it was just them.

"Sorry about C.C., Alex. She's not this crabby." he apologized.

"Don't apologize for her. I know she seems mean, but I suppose she did not anticipate being dragged out of her comfort zone by someone she didn't know. It's no skin off my ass."

He felt the same way as her. And he thought that maybe when he gets home, he could try and make it up to her. But he thought of something else while they sat on the grass. He asked her, without looking from the sky, "Alex? I'm curious. Are we really friends?"

She turned to him as she was stumped by the question; she inquired, "What is that suppose to mean? Is it because of the short time we've known each other?"

"Well, I think it's because of how it all came to be." he explained, "First time we met, you saved my ass from a bunch of guys. Then I was suspected of killing one of my classmates, and suddenly, I ask you for drinks and well...here we are. We talk, we drink, we socialize, we've been in a disagreement or two and all I know is... well..."

"What?'

"I've never had a female friend as kind, strong and defensive as you. So in this short time we've known each other, I suppose we were meant to become friends."

Alex wrapped her arm around him and smiled, whist whispering, "I suppose so. But let's give this friendship time, understood?"

He turned over to her and smiled back, "Understood, detective."

Then Alex got up and stretched out, extending a hand for him, Alex asked him, "How about you find your friend and I give you two a ride home?"

He got up with her assistance and nodded, "Sure. I need to get up early for school anyways."

They walked out of Central Park, with Alex again wrapping her arm around him. Suzaku felt happy because now it was confirmed – he has himself a new friend. And she felt the same way too. She was a bit skeptical about befriending a person who was twice her own age, but how they bonded was ageless. Something like that.

_Back at the precinct_ , Fin looked at the picture that he took with his phone. Seeing Kallen that close with this man had to be no coincidence, maybe it was the way she acted around him that fueled his suspicions. Maybe he was wrong and he was over-thinking this too much. But all he knew was, this was something that he needed to dig into.

"I don't wanna be right about this," Fin muttered to himself, "So I better be wrong. If you're really doing what I think you are, then I need to get to the bottom of this."

_As one friendship blossomed, one relationship may be in doubt._

* * *

**End of Chapter Five**


	6. Deceived

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looking to disprove their beliefs, Munch and Fin go undercover to find evidence that Kallen is truly cheating on Suzaku.

_One day when Alex was walking into the squad room, she took a glance at Fin, who seemed very distracted as he was walking in the squad room as well. She couldn't tell what was going on, but she could tell that something wasn't right when she waved and said hello, and all he did was grunt in response. She wasn't exactly sure if this was any of her concern but it didn't hurt to ask. But he was already gone._

It was late in the afternoon, during another regular work day. The SVU team were either working an investigation or doing some paperwork; whichever came first. Four of the detectives were all present as always, as the four teamed up on another case. There was not much to say in regards to their work, but it goes without saying, it was mildly boring.  _Meanwhile_ , Suzaku walked into the squad room like he did every day after school, to visit Alex and her colleagues.

This day was slightly different as he brought his girlfriend Kallen with him. Suzaku tried to sneak up on her, as some type of surprise. But as it turned out, he did not do much of a job staying unnoticed because almost immediately, she noticed him.

Alex did not turn around at him, but without moving her eyes from her desk, she said, "You have to do much better than that, Suzaku."

"Well, I suppose my surprise is ruined then." he sighed. Alex got out of her desk and they shared a hug for a moment or two. It was always refreshing to see him around.

"Hey, how are you doing?" she greeted happily.

"I'm okay. Just got out of school, just thought I'd pop by and say hello."

She brushed her hair back and smiled back at him, she looked behind him and saw Kallen standing there. Her smile slightly went down when she saw her. It said that she wasn't as happy to see her as opposed to seeing Suzaku. Nonetheless, she waved and greeted the red haired woman:

"Oh, I see you brought your girlfriend with you. Nice to see you again."

She waved and said back at her, "Nice to see you two. I wasn't gonna be here long anyways. I promised I'd meet someone later."

"Okay then. More Suzaku for me then." she laughed at her own comment while Kallen followed suit. The way they shared a laugh, it was damn near superficial; worse issue was that Suzaku, who stood in between them, could not see it.

Kallen looked around and saw a few familiar faces in the squad room, such as Munch and Fin. She greeted them, "Hey guys. Remember me?"

"Oh yeah, you're his girlfriend if I remember correctly." Munch recalled. In some type of way, it was his form of a greeting. At least for people whom he doesn't know well. As for Fin, he remembered her very well.

"I remember you." Fin stated; unlike Suzaku, he saw the fake smile on her face. He looked as she heard her cell phone ring, she pulled it out of her pocket as it was only a text. Suddenly, Kallen looked a bit more happy then she was a moment ago.

She took her eyes of her phone and asked one of them, "Excuse me but, where is the bathroom?"

"It's right over there." Munch pointed out to her. She immediately rushed past the two sergeants en route to the facilities; but the floor was slippery, which caused her to slip and fall down. She lied on the floor in a distinct amount of pain when Suzaku rushed over himself to help her up.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked the young woman.

As she was being helped up, Kallen replied, "Sure, I'm okay. Wait a minute? Where's my phone?"

She began looking frantically for it, searching around to see if it slid around somewhere. Fin felt something under his foot, so he bent down under his desk and saw that her phone had slipped under his desk. He picked it up and while he was bent down under the desk, he saw that she had something up – a text message.

It read:  _"Meet me tomorrow again in Times Square like we did before. Can't wait to see you again."_

Fin got out from under the desk and called out to Kallen, "Hey, I found your phone."

"Really?" she inquired; it relieved her knowing that someone found it, "Thank you so much."

"No problem." he nodded. Alas, it made him worried. But still, he felt bad for Suzaku. He didn't know what was going on, neither did he, but regardless of what she was doing, at least he had a right to know.

 _The following afternoon,_ Fin took the day off to spy on Kallen. Even though he didn't have to do this, her behavior, the text message and everything else suggested that she had a secret. Speaking of secrets, Munch noticed the other day that Fin was acting a little off; in fact, he saw him (just barely) read something on her phone. So that was why he decided to tag along.

"I still don't understand why you want to come with." he grunted.

"Look here, like you, I'm also curious of what she could be doing." Munch told him, "She could be doing anything, but what makes you so sure that she could be cheating?"

"I know all the signs. She hiding something." he explained, "What about you? Have any one of your ex-wives cheat on you?"

"Oh yeah. I've been through that at least once." he sighed, thinking about this time but in his camera lens, Munch saw her, "Fin, there she is."

He looked with his binoculars and saw the red haired woman standing around outside an outdoor restaurant, looking for someone. By the looks of it, it seemed like she was eager. Both of them waited for what seemed to be thirty to fifty minutes for something else to happen. In that time, Kallen walked around to make sure no one thought she was loitering. At about the hour mark, someone finally showed up.

The person was, as previously described, taller than her and had short black hair. Munch and Fin watched from afar as they shared a hug and even witness Kallen receiving a kiss on her forehead. Munch took a photo of it, in order to show proof. But it was not enough.

All throughout the afternoon, they watched them laugh and talk and overall, have a interesting time together. They tried to make sure that they could not be detected by either of them, as Kallen has seen them twice already. They left the restaurant no less than fifteen minutes ago and proceeded to walk down the streets of Manhattan together. The two detectives tailed them for as long as they could.

As they couple walked to their next destination, they exchanged a few words as he noticed her on playing on her phone a lot.

"Kallen, why are you always on your phone? Is there something wrong?" he asked her.

"It's nothing. Just some things that I'm trying to keep up on."

"Like what?" She did not respond to the question. For some reason, she felt obligated not to tell him. Still he shook this one off and asked her, "Hey, I want you to know that I feel like introducing you to Suzaku next week. Depending if he's available."

The very mention of Suzaku startled Kallen and almost made her heart stop for a moment. So she objected, "I don't think that is a right idea."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean is, what am I supposed to say to him? We haven't met in so long, I not sure what you expect me to say to him."

"Come on, Kallen. He's my best friend. Besides, I heard that he got himself a girlfriend as well. Perhaps you and her could have something in common."

She was in a hard spot right now. She tried to persuade him away from the idea, difficult as it was, she still tried, "Perhaps when I have some time to spare, then maybe we could."

"Fine then. Let's see where it goes from there."

She hugged him and said with smile, "Thank you, Lelouch. Now how about we get back to yours and well... you know."

"Someone is quite eager?" he smirked, but it didn't matter at all to him. Instead of going to their original destination, they switch routes, now going to his place instead.

Munch and Fin continued to tail them without them being able to spot them. They took a few more photos for more proof, and a couple others to help identify him. Sooner or later, they found themselves lost in Manhattan for a brief time, whist keeping track of them. Luck was in their favor when they finally managed to track them down – all the way into Central Park. They watched them enter an apartment building, but unfortunately, there was no chance to follow.

Despite that, they get out of the car and walk inside. The building was seemingly familiar to both of them, especially Fin, who has been here a handful of times. They got inside quick, but it appeared that they were too late. They had already gotten in the escalator long before they got inside. This proved to be difficult.

"Damn it, we lost them." Munch grunted.

"Calm down, Munch. We'll find them."

"So we knock on every apartment door until we find them?"

Fin walked in the escalator as he told his partner, "Not exactly. You should remember that we know someone that lives in this building. So are you gonna stand there or are you coming?"

The older detective/sergeant shrugged and joined his partner in the escalator. Hopefully, this helps them even just a little. They made it to their intended destination, where Fin went to go meet someone that he knew very well. It was easy to find the apartment now; not like he had any difficulty before.

He knocked on the door, to see if anyone was home or not. The door substantially opened, and Fin greeted, "Hey what's up, Ken."

"Hi, dad. Hi, John." He greeted, giving his father a hug. He was surprised that they were here which was why he asked, "So what can I do for you guys? Police business?"

"Nah. Unofficial business this time." he told him, showing him the camera, "We want to ask you if you've seen this girl around the building recently?"

They showed Ken the photo of Kallen, trying to see if he has seen her around. But, "Sorry. Never seen her around."

Clearly, it went nowhere so Fin changed the photo to show another picture for him to see, "Alright, have you seen this one around here often."

He took a good look at this photo and actually recognized who it was; he told them, "Oh, that's Lelouch. He and his sister lives on the next floor up. I've seen him around before, but I usually help his sister out from time to time."

This was very good help for both Munch and Fin, so Munch asked him, "Where can we find him? What's his apartment number?"

"I don't know. I never noticed. If you take the stairs, then it should be the seventh door to your right."

"Thank you very much, Ken. We appreciate it." Fin thanked him. But before they left, Ken asked them.

"Do either of you two want to come in? My boyfriend has be dying to meet you, dad."

Munch didn't wish to be rude so he said, "Sure, I'll come in and meet him."

"Sorry, I got some business to take care of. When that's done I might come on down and say hi. If not, tell him I said hello."

He nodded in agreement and allowed Munch to come inside instead. While he spent time with him, catching up and whatnot, Fin however, went in pursuit to find Lelouch and Kallen. Hopefully, they didn't already leave. Fin followed his son's directions and went upstairs to the next floor, and to the apartment door as directed. Fin knocked on the door, seeing if anyone was home – but no one came.

But there was something off about it. Nobody was answering the door, but for some reason, music was playing inside. It was suspicions albeit strange; someone  _had_  to be inside. Or one of them left the radio on. Any of these were possible. He continued knocking on the door, waiting for someone to finally answer it – but to no avail.

He assumed that they already came in and left so he was prepared to leave. But then he heard a voice from behind, asking him, "Excuse me, but do you need something?

Fin looked behind him – and then down, only to be confronted by a young woman, sitting in a wheelchair with a basket of clothes on her lap. Ultimately, he was slightly embarrassed, "Oh my bad, I was looking for someone that might be in this apartment."

"No worries." she smiled at the detective.

"Do you live in this apartment?"

"Yes, I do. I share it with my older brother." she was puzzled by the question and asked him, "I'm sorry, but could I ask who you are?"

"Yeah, I almost forgot." Fin took out his badge and introduced himself, "Sergeant Tutuola, I'm a police officer. I'd like to know if your brother is home."

Hearing the music from inside, she told him, "He should be. The radio is on. Lelouch almost never leaves it on when he's gone."

"Do you mind if I come inside? I need to ask him questions."

She wheeled herself to the door, taking out her keys and answered, "Of course. Just let me open the door."

In no less than a minute, she opened the door for him. He patiently entered the apartment, where they both noticed a blouse on the floor. He picked it up and showed it to her, asking, "Is this yours?"

"Oh course not. I've never seen that before."

They see that one of the doors were open, so Fin walked towards it slowly to see who was inside. He took a peek inside and turns out... his suspicions were true. He pushed the door shut, to see none other that the two right in the middle of sex. Both Lelouch and Kallen were startled to see Fin standing outside the door. Kallen tried to cover herself, knowing that this is trouble.

"What the hell? Nunnally, who is this guy?" An angered Lelouch inquired.

The detective snarled, "I'm a cop!"

"Fin? What are you doing here?" Kallen shouted.

Lelouch turned to her and asked, "You know him?"

As painful as it was, she had to agree, "Yes, I do. He's a friend of a friend."

This turned into a giant mess, to say the very least. There was no way she could possibly get out of this without a legitimate reason; now there was no denying it – she was caught. Fin shook his head and threw her over her blouse, telling the two, "Put your clothes back on."

After the two got dressed, per his request, they sat on the couch with plenty of embarrassment, shame and all others feelings that associate to what they were feeling. Fin just spent a good time walking back and forth, looking at them. He knew what they did and he was waiting for one of them to say something. After they inadvertently swore themselves to silence, he decided to say something to the guilt couple.

"I don't even know what to say to you, girl. I can't even think of anything to say." he nodded.

"Detective, I can explain." Kallen told him.

He stopped walking back and forth and suggested, "Okay, how about you tell this guys right here that you already have a boyfriend, if I presume."

Lelouch look at her and was utterly stumped by his comment, which was why he asked, "What is he talking about, Kallen?"

She sighed deeply. Kallen was hoping that she never had to tell him, "I had a boyfriend long before we began dating."

"Who is he?" he asked her. But before she had a chance, Fin told him instead.

"Suzaku Kururugi. That who he is."

The name apparently clicked to him; it took him a second or two to realize who it was. "Suzaku?! You mean I've been banging my best friend's girlfriend all this time?'

"You two know each other?" Fin inquired.

"Yes, I do. We go all the way back when we were kids." he sighed. He could not believe that this was happening. "Kallen, why the hell didn't you tell me?"

"I can't tell you. I just... can't."

Since she did not give either of them a valid reason, Fin made an observation, "I can guess why. Suzaku wasn't 'enough' for you, so you go out and bang his best friend on the side? Correct me if I'm wrong."

She sat there with lots of regret, as did Lelouch. Fin didn't want to see anymore of this so he decided to leave the apartment. He turned back at Lelouch and apologized, "Sorry for coming in your home like this so unexpected."

He sighed again, "Don't apologize, especially since Nunnally was the person who let you in."

"Alright then." he replied, as he walked through the door but not before he said his greetings to Nunnally, "It was nice meeting you. I heard my son has helped you out, be sure to thank him."

She shook his hand and smiled, "Oh that's your son? Well okay, I'll do so. Nice meeting you, I wish that we met on a better time than this."

He nodded in agreement and walked out without another word. Now, he wondered how he was gonna explain this to Suzaku, telling him that his girlfriend was unfaithful to him. Clearly, this was gonna be hard to break. As he headed down the stairs to get his partner, Kallen stopped him as soon as possible.

"Detective!" she shouted at him. She managed to catch up to him with no ease, "Please wait, can I please tell you something?"

He turned around and replied, "What is it?"

"I know what I did was wrong, but please, could you not tell Suzaku about this?" she pleaded.

He could not believe that those words came out of her mouth, so he said back at her, "Really? Are you telling me to keep this a secret?"

"It's the least you could do for me."

"Why? Why should I keep your dirty little secret? Why should I keep lying like the way you've been? Tell me that."

This was hard for Kallen to explain, very hard. So she summed it up for him, "I want to tell him myself. I was the one that hurt him, it's better if he heard it from me."

"And what if you  _never_  tell him?" he exclaimed; Kallen couldn't respond to his question, "Exactly. You can might as well think of an excuse, because I'm not gonna take any heat from him because I kept this from him possibly as long as you have."

He walked back downstairs, leaving her in a state of grief. Although it was her own fault, she now regretted ever lying to him. As she laid her head on the wall, all she knew was – she could at least prepare for what was ahead. Now that the lies have been exposed, the question remains is: How will Suzaku handle it? Who knows.

* * *

**End of Chapter Six**


	7. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suzaku finds out about his girlfriend's infidelity and confronts her; soon after, Alex starts wondering where he went, after weeks of no contact.

_Sergeants Munch and Tutuola returned to the car, after what Fin had to deal with. He was mildly offended that Kallen wanted to keep her affair with Lelouch a secret, even thought her intentions were actually pure, as she intended to tell Suzaku herself. But this did prove difficult for the detectives, who had a decision to make. Tell him or wait 'til she does. The actual question was: when would she tell him?_

_Before the drove off, Munch asked a bothered Fin, "So... what do we do from here?"_

_He looked out the car window and sighed, "I'm not sure, Munch. All I care about is telling Suzaku what is going on?"_

" _But are you sure you want to tell him yourself?" he exclaimed, "Personally, I don't believe that this is any of our business. So if she wants to tell him, why not?"_

" _What if she doesn't, man?" he inquired. Munch was left in silence. "What if she doesn't tell him and she continues doing the same two-faced crap she was doing before? I'm aware that this is difficult, but not telling him means we're almost as bad as her. Suzaku, Alex, both of them would hold it against us."_

" _I'll admit that if we not tell him, then we'll receive backlash from Alex and Suzaku," he acknowledged, "but are you seriously considering telling him? I know she did wrong, but like I said, it's probably none of our business to get involved in someone else's personal drama."_

" _What would you do then, if you knew someone that was being cheated on?"_

_He sighed and told his partner, "Then I might feel obligated to say something."_

" _Exactly! Keeping that stuff secret won't benefit anyone. So it's better to just give him a thumbs up, rather than someone who knows and keep their mouths shut."_

" _I suppose you may be right. I'd want you to tell me that my woman was running around on me." Munch finally agreed, "So what do we do from here? Do we tell him now or do we wait until it is necessary?"_

_Fin started the car, in preparation of leaving and answered, "I'd rather sleep on it. There is no need to tell him right away."_

" _I suppose so."_

* * *

 _The following day_ , both of them went to Suzaku's apartment to tell him the shocking truth. They knew that he lived in Brooklyn, just they didn't know where he lived in particular; fortunately, Alex was willing to hand over his address so they could speak to him. The fact that they asked for his address made her suspicious of their intentions, she wanted to follow them to see what they were up too, but work deemed a little too overwhelming for the blonde detective.

As they arrive at his door, they hoped that Kallen had not already told him. Munch knocked on the door and within seconds, the door was opened. Suzaku had the uncomfortable pleasure of seeing them at his door, rather than Alex; he assumed that they wanted him for something. He had no idea.

"Hey, detectives." he greeted, "What are doing here? How did you find out where I lived?"

"We're cops, young man." Munch explained (sort of), "We could go through your medical history, if you had a subpoena to do so."

Like most of the things that comes out of his mouth, this comment left Suzaku slightly confused. Nevertheless, he welcomed them inside. "Come on in. Sorry it's a freaking mess, my roommate is kind of a slob. To put it that way."

They looked down at the trash that lied on the floor and it didn't seem like much. Most of the clutter was female clothes anyways. Fin didn't want him to worry so he told him, "It's alright. We don't mind the mess, just as long as you clean it up."

Suzaku sat on the couch, and asked them, "So what do you want?"

Fin sat down next to Suzaku so he could tell him, "Well. We're here to tell you something. You probably would like it."

"And don't worry. It's nothing death related." Munch added.

He didn't know what was going on. Well, he already didn't know what was going on prior to this. He still asked, "What are you trying to tell me, guys?"

They sighed, trying to think of a way to break it to him. So Fin brought out the camera and begun explaining to him, "The other day, when you and your girlfriend came to the squad room, I accidentally read a text from someone that wanted to meet her the next day. So me and Munch went out to see what's up."

"Yes...?"

He pulled up a picture and asked him, "Do you know who this guy is?"

Suzaku took a close look at the picture and immediately recognized who it was, "Yes. That's my best friend, Lelouch. What about him?"

"Well yesterday," Munch jumped in and explained, "me and Fin tailed Kallen, to see if she was up to no good. They met up that day and spent a lot of close time together. Fin, show him the pictures."

He pulled up the photos of Kallen kissing Lelouch in public, there were at least ten different photos. Suzaku was in shocking disbelief; he didn't think that those photos were real. It had to be some sort of prank according to him, because he didn't want to believe it.

"Are these fake?"

"Nah. They're not." Fin answered him. He continued to show him more photos, featuring them in close contact. Meanwhile, he explained even further, "They made their way to his apartment, where my son also resides. His little sister let me in so I could get them; I found them in his bed, fully naked. They were already at it when I caught them."

He needed a moment to think. He didn't want to believe that it was true. There was still lots of doubt in his mind that these were all lies, but it was as true as possible. His emotions were running all over the place, unsure what to do. All the times she's blown him off, he tried to comprehend it.

Munch and Fin watched him take the news hard. They had no pleasure in showing him this. In fact, it was hard for them as well. Suzaku shook his head, still trying to think this stuff through. He stood up and asked one of the detectives, "Are you sure you saw this happening? I just want to know."

"It's for real, man. We're sorry that we had to be the ones to tell you." Fin tried to comfort him, without things becoming awkward. He attempted to pat his back a few times, but Suzaku got up and went into his room.

They looked to see what he was about to do; they had hoped that he didn't lose it and do something he regretted. They thought of the very worse things that he might be considering, and it was only necessary that whatever it could be, it could be preventable. However, after a minute or two, Suzaku returned from his bedroom, with his shoes on. He never said a single word when he took his coat and headed off.

Immediately, they followed him to see what he tried to do. Fin was the one to ask, "Where are you going?"

"I need to go see her." he replied. Telling them nothing else as he stormed out of the apartment building. All they could do was watch as he left, and hoped that he didn't do anything crazy. Did they believe that he would? Perhaps.

* * *

 _Hours later_ , Suzaku rushed from Brooklyn to Upper Manhattan as fast as he could. He didn't know what to feel at that moment. He didn't want to think that what he saw was actually true. At the very least, he hoped that Munch and Fin were wrong.  _Hoping_  that they were all wrong. But he needed to her her side of this story. After taking a long express back to Manhattan, he went around in search of her.

He knew where she resided, in a affluent Manhattan apartment complex. It hardly took him long to find the place, especially on foot; once he reached the her apartment door, he had to make sure that he kept his wits about him. He took deep breaths to try and calm himself down, as fast and effective as physically possible. As soon as he was able to calm himself down, he knocked on her door.

Kallen walked to the door and saw no one other than him at her doorstep. She nearly jumped out of her own skin when she saw him, and by his looks, he did not seem happy. He asked her, with no emotion in his speaking voice, "May I come in?"

She was resistant of doing so, but it would be rude to her if she shut the door on her boyfriend – at least right he was. She allowed him in, backing out of his way. And was worried when he shut the door. She said, "So, what do you want? I wasn't expecting you."

"I bet you weren't." he chuckled... slightly. He took out the camera he got from Fin and asked her, "Kallen, could you explain this?"

He pulled up a photo of her kissing his best friend, along with several others. She fretted; she had no idea what to say to him or what to do. He was practically a bomb waiting to explode. So it was only necessary to lighten the blow some.

"I...I don't know how to tell you." she tried to explain it to him. But was concerned that he'd take it even harder than he was right now, "Suzaku, I screwed up. I..."

"You what? Tell me so I can understand."

She tried to hold back her tears. But she explained to him the best she could, "I haven't been truthful with you recently. I've been lying to you for a long time about where I am and where I'm going. It hurts me to say this but... I've been... unfaithful to you."

Suzaku was unsure whenever to laugh or break out in tears. He tried not to do both, but it did not change the fact that he was angry. He asked another question, "How long... how long have you've been cheating on me? With my best buddy?!"

This was painful for her to admit. And all she could think of was the potential worse things that he might do; even though he rarely violent. She began tearing up, "More than three months ago. We were having a nice time and it just led on from there. I don't know why I started doing it but all I know is, I made an awful mistake and at least I could've been truthful to you."

It was overwhelming for him to hear. He put his hands over his head, and said, "Almost three years, we've been together. I never hurt you physically, I never lied to you and I certainly gave you as much love as I could. Why? What did I do to you to deserve this?"

"Look, I know what I did was wrong and I know that I lied but please if you could, forgive me." she pleaded to him. But there was no way that he could.

Suddenly, he balled up his hands into fists. Kallen noticed this, thinking that he was gonna hurt her. Even thought she could fight back, getting into a physical altercation wouldn't help either of them. He tried to handle his emotions as he possibly could. He couldn't even calm himself down so he tightened up his fist and with all his might, propelled his arm in punching motion.

Instinctively, Kallen flinched and tried to protect herself. But then she heard a loud  _*shatter*._  She opened her eyes and saw that he had punched a glass table into pieces. He tried to keep himself from crying, while his knuckles were bleeding aggressively. Quickly, she rushed over to aide him, but backed away from her.

She backed off, he no longer could stand to look at her. Watching the blood from his fist drip on the carpet, Suzaku tearfully said, "No, forgive me. For wasting all that time. I have nothing more to say to you. Good-bye, and take care."

He walked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him. He hardly minded his wounded hand, because that wasn't what hurt to him. Back inside, Kallen sat on the couch rest and started sobbing. She knew it was all her fault. And now it cost her the one she loved. It was painful for both of them.

* * *

_It has been more than a week since Alex had made contact with Suzaku. He hasn't answered her texts, her calls, he hasn't shown up in the squad room at all in that time. It made her worry that something bad might have happened. She even tried going to his apartment, but nobody answered the door. All that she could hear, was the sound of sad music inside. It was very clear to Alex – something bad happened to Suzaku._

Inside the SVU squad room, Alex sat at her desk thinking about no one else but Suzaku. She believed that something definitely happened to him, which was why she hasn't made contact with him in so long. The other detectives looked at her and noticed that her mind was elsewhere. Elliot walked by and saw that Alex was somewhere else at that moment, Munch and Fin didn't know what she was thinking about, probably because she didn't know what happened.

But she might hear some news, as C.C. walked in the precinct and entered the squad room, searching for Alex. She yelled out to her direction, "Detective Cabot!"

She turned around and saw C.C. standing there. Alex got up and asked her, "Hey there. What are you doing here and how did you find out where I work?"

"I found one of your business cards. Made my way over here." she told her, "Anyways, I'm here to tell you about Suzaku."

"Yes, have you heard from him? I haven't been able to talk to him, as if he has been ignoring me."

She turned away and answered, "It might have something to do with the whole break up he went through. Anyways, I'm going to Italy for a while. Not sure when I'll be back."

"Alright..." Alex nodded, until the break up part crossed her head, "Hold on a sec, what? What do you mean 'break up'?"

"Oh yeah, didn't anyone tell you? Suzaku found out through someone that his girlfriend was cheating on him for some time, so he broke up with her. But I don't care, I'd rather leave him alone with his problems and go about my business."

Now there were some things that did not sound right. So Alex asked, "Who told him that she was cheating?"

"Don't know. Possibly those two." C.C. answered, pointing at Munch and Fin, "Well, I have a flight to get too. Farewell."

Alex turned around to Munch and Fin, seeing as how they kept this from her. Technically, they didn't keep anything from her, they thought Suzaku told her. Nonetheless, she was displeased, "Did you two tell him that his girlfriend was going around on him?"

"Yeah. I'm afraid so." Fin confirmed.

"Why did you tell him that?"

Munch took out the camera, which he retrieved from Suzaku and showed her what they saw. Alex didn't know what to say about this, now knowing what is going on, Munch told her, "Me and Fin followed her all across Midtown the other day and caught her with this guy right here, turns out to be Suzaku's best friend."

"Oh my god. Poor Suzaku..." Alex sighed in disappointment, "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"We thought he told you." Fin assumed. They actually thought he told her by now. Regardless of whenever they told her or not, Alex grabbed her coat and rushed to his place as soon as she could. It was more productive than being down their throats.

_Suddenly, it became all clear to her. She wanted to see if he was alright, but in truth, he was in a vast amount of pain. There was no doubt that he loved Kallen, and seeing how things panned out really must have torn him apart. It was up to Alex to help him through it, because C.C. damn sure wasn't going too._

After a lengthy drive to Brooklyn, Alex went to visit Suzaku again to check on his well-being. She frantically knocked on the door, to actually get his attention. She waited a moment or two to see if he would answer, but what seemed to be a lifetime (three minutes), he answered the door. She took a gook look at Suzaku, who was near depressed, had a bottle of alcohol in his hand and had a bit of fuzz on his face. It happens.

Alex tried asking as gingerly as she could, "Could I come in?"

He said nothing, but welcome her inside. For the second time, she had to deal with the mess in his apartment. She knew that C.C. made this mess and neglected to clean before she left. Supposedly, it was her  _"farewell present"_  to Suzaku. Nevertheless, she still asked him.

"Are you okay, Suzaku?"

He sat on the couch and groaned out a response, "Yeah, I've been better."

"Well, I heard what happened between you and Kallen." She told him, "You really cared for her didn't you? Well, if you need a shoulder to cry on, I'm always here."

Alex patted his back, and he chuckled, "Don't worry. I've done plenty of that."

Seeing a smile on his face also put a smile on hers. Alex was glad that he had cheered up a bit, but knew that wouldn't entirely help. So she asked him, "So, are you sure you're okay?"

He looked down and sighed, "I'm not really okay. I don't know, but I feel betrayed. For a week, I've been sitting here, trying to get all those tears out of my system. But I suppose that's natural. But what I don't understand is why two of the closest people in my life, would inexplicably screw me over like this. My best friend and my now ex-girlfriend, it is just too surreal."

"I understand that you loved her, but drowning yourself in your own self-pity will not solve anything." Alex explained, "Trust me, I've been there before."

Suzaku looked up at Alex and exclaimed, "What are you talking about?"

"If you must, then I guess I can relive it once more." she begun to explain, "Some time ago, I was in a relationship with this woman I met at work. She was a detective like me. I loved her deeply, more than anyone I've ever met. We were together for more than a few years, possibly more. I thought she was my soul mate, that one person that would assure me companionship for the rest of my days. It was nice."

"What happened between you two?"

"Turns out, she didn't love me as much as I did. When she came to my former squad, it was when I found out that she was cheating on me."

"With another woman?" he inquired.

"No. A man." she told him. It was difficult for her to explain, "The day I found out, was the same day she dumped me for him. I pleaded to her,  _'Why?'_  and she said that I was not enough for her."

"What did he have that you didn't?"

"A penis. She wanted to be a mother, and she knew that being with me, meant that would never happen. Even though adoption could have been an option." Alex explained further, "So I held it up for the rest of work, and as soon as I came home. I cried as much as I could, until I fell to sleep. I thought that I'd could drink all my pain away, but it didn't help. If I hadn't took control of myself, I could have lost my job. Since then, I lost all hope of finding a mate of my own."

Suzaku couldn't believe that she had gone through all this. Comparing his relationship with hers, both were no different from each other. Except one aspect. He was curious of one thing, "So, you just gave up on love? You never tried finding another woman... or man?"

She chuckled and stated, "In case you're wondering, I'm  _not_  a lesbian. I'm actually bisexual."

"Whoa."

"Yeah, I've been with both. And both have wrecked my heart." she nodded, "That is why I decided to hang it all up. But I do have a point to all this. Even though I might have given up, it doesn't mean that you should too. You have your whole life ahead of you, soon enough the right girl will come along. It may be too late for me, but it's not for you."

These words interested Suzaku. Seeing how well she picked herself up, perhaps he could take some pointers from her. "Is there any way you can help me get through this?"

"Yes. And the first step towards that is," Alex swiped the alcohol from his hand, and begun pouring it on the floor, "Don't drink your problems away. It might numb down the pain now, but it'll destroy you much later in life. Take my word for it."

Suddenly, Suzaku felt a little better already. But the distinct smell of gin in his carpet was a problem to him, especially due to the mess. Still, he was glad. When you look at it, Alex is the only bit of support he has, so that meant he was gonna rely on her more than ever. Alex thought of something that could cheer him up.

"How about I buy you lunch? Would that be nice?" she offered.

Suzaku considered it for a minute, then he nodded, "Sure. That would be nice."

"Good!" she smiled, getting up from the couch and on her way to the door, but not before she told him, "But first, you should probably clean yourself up. Maybe shave your face."

He felt his face and exclaimed, "Is my face really that bad?"

"Well it's not bad. But it wouldn't hurt."

Suzaku shrugged and made his way to the bathroom. He really was in no condition to leave his apartment. While he was fixing himself up, Alex wondered; how can she help him? Can she help him? That's for fate to decide.

* * *

**End of Chapter Seven**


	8. Befriending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex hopes to cheer up Suzaku by convincing the detectives to go out to dinner with them, and hopefully get his mind off his now ex-girlfriend.

_He was hurt, heartbroken, his confidence damaged, he is depressed and felt nothing but loneliness and betrayal. Suzaku was dealing with a break-up – and a nasty one at that. And I know it all too well because I, myself, have experienced it first hand. Looking at him, I felt bad; he loved her with almost every fiber of his being, yet she hurt him. It's one thing to lie, but to cheat on top of it, made it worse. Now I wonder if he'll ever find the strength to recover._

_He was not only without his mate, but was without his best friend – the same friend who slept with her repeatedly. Thinking about it, Suzaku doesn't need a girlfriend to be happy once again. He just needs someone he can trust, someone to talk too, someone to help get him through it. He just needs a friend._

In the middle of a work day, Alex calmly sat at her desk, using the computer. She had other work she had to do, but for some reason, she was there scrolling through pages. Though he attention was elsewhere, the rest of her colleagues took notice. The captain being one of them.

He rolled up a newspaper and whacked her in the head. Alex nearly jumped out of her chair when he hit her with said newspaper, even more so when she saw her captain standing right behind her. He looked down at the detective and said:

"Detective, what are you doing? You're supposed to be working."

"Sorry, captain. I've been trying to get something done, but I was up all last night." she yawned.

Leaning in his chair, Sergeant Munch inquired, "What were you doing last night?"

"I was with Suzaku last night. He asked me if I could help with his homework, so I stayed up all night helping him study."

"Well that was nice of you, detective."

"Thanks." she nodded, when she heard her phone ringing. She took a look and saw that he was calling her, so she excused herself, "If you'll excuse me, I need to take this."

Alex departed her desk and in the hall, as Munch and Cragen watched. About the same time, Detective Stabler and Sergeant Tutuola walked in the squad room, passing her as they entered. It was not hard to notice that she was talking on the phone in the hallway.

Walking over to his respective desk, Fin asked them, "Who is she talking too?"

"My guess is that she's talking to the kid Suzaku." Munch assumed.

Unlike the rest of them, Elliot couldn't understand any of this so he told them, "I don't understand her involvement with that kid. Why is she trying so hard to be his friend?"

"It's better not to judge, detective." said Captain Cragen, "If she wants to be his friend, let her. I don't understand it either, probably because I know nothing about her involvement with him. But put it this way: at least she's not banging this kid. I hope not."

Elliot was about to reply until Alex walked back in the room, no longer on the phone but said as she walked past them, "I need to talk to you four in the captain's office right now."

They were oddly confused as to why she was trying to drag them in his office. Chances were, it was something that they have no interest in. Nevertheless, they followed her in the office to listen to what she had to tell them. As they entered, she leaned on the desk in waiting.

Captain Cragen walked to his desk chair, asking the blonde detective, "Is there a problem, detective?"

She walked to the door and closed it, and asked, "Guys, I know I don't ask you for anything personal, but can you four do me a favor?"

"Sure, Alex." Fin agreed, standing over the couch rather than sitting on it. "What do you need?"

"Well, I have to explain first." Alex told them, proceeding to explain, "You all know my new friend, Suzaku. Right?"

They all nodded. Munch asked her, "What about him?"

"What is this about, detective?" asked Captain Cragen.

"Well, the other day, Suzaku found out that his girlfriend has been cheating on him with his best friend. And he was devastated. This is something that both Munch and Fin discovered a few weeks ago."

"So that's what you two were doing that day?" Cragen glared at the two sergeants, who stood there silent.

Alex however, continued with, "Anyways, yes they found out and told him. It has been a while since then but he's still reeling over it. So, I want to cheer him up."

"What are you gonna do?"

"That's why you guys are here. I brought you in here so I could ask if you guys would come with me tonight and and treat him to dinner."

"Why? Why should we go out to dinner with him?" Elliot protested, "First time you met him, he was a suspect in a homicide. Now, you wanna wine and dine him?"

"Come on, Elliot. I had suspicions too, now all I want is to be kind to him. I'm the only friend he has right now. If you won't do it for him, do it for me."

As hesitant as they were, the fact alone that he has no other friends besides her, was saddening. They didn't want to pity the poor kid, because that would only be insulting so thinking about it, perhaps they should learn a little more about him first.

"Yeah, I'll go." Munch agreed.

"I'll go too. If he hangs out with you, then he must be a good kid." Cragen followed suit.

"You know I'll go, Alex." Fin told her, "He needs another buddy."

They looked at Elliot, awaiting his decision. Even though his past suspicions clouded his judgment of him, he groaned out a response, "Sure, I'll go."

Alex clapped her hands together and said, "Great. We can leave at 7pm tonight. I'll go tell him."

She left the office to call Suzaku, leaving her colleagues in the captain's office. With her gone, they discussed it over briefly. Cragen sat in his desk chair and asked his detectives, "Okay, should we really go out tonight and meet this kid?"

"Don't worry, captain. He's alright, me and Munch have met him before." Fin answered.

"So that is a yes?"

"Why the hell not? We all know Alex is gonna bust our chops if we don't go, so perhaps we should meet him. We know where this might go."

Cragen looked around and inquired, "Alright. So it's unanimous?"

The three detectives nodded in agreement. They exchanged no other words but he did dismiss them from his office. They didn't know how things could turn out, but worse case scenario was something bad could break out. But their intentions were clear and simple – they were doing this for Alex.

* * *

 _Meanwhile_ , ever since the events that escalated the other day, Lelouch has tried to reach Suzaku in hopes to apologize. Despite numerous attempts – albeit unsuccessful, he kept trying to at least make any sort of contact with him. Without actually meeting him in person. He has tried everything that he could to at least get a response: E-mails, texts, calls, etc, but to no avail.

He plopped on his couch, defeated. He knew that he had screwed up royally, and it sure as hell cost him his friendship. He turned his head to the side and saw Nunnally sitting in her wheelchair, right in front of the couch. His assumed that she was there for one reason.

"Are you here to judge me? Or what?" He asked, his voice with barely any tone to it.

"No I'm not. I just want to know why you slept with her, knowing that she was with Suzaku."

Lelouch placed his hand over his forehead and up into his hair, and exclaimed, "Nunnally, I never knew that they were going out. If I had known, I wouldn't have slept with her."

"So you're saying that she never told you?"

"Not even a single mention. Thinking about it now," He recalled, "She was always hesitant whenever I mention his name. As if she was ashamed to be with him. But once again, I just don't know."

"Well, stop sitting here sulking. We both know that what you two did to him was wrong, but you can make it right. Go to him and ask for his forgiveness. Just try to fix what is broken."

Though her words had meaning, he sighed and looked at his younger sister, "You might be right. However, getting my ass kicked is not gonna help either of us. I'd rather wait until he cools down before I ask him for any type of forgiveness."

"Well whatever you decide to do, don't let your friendship die out like this."

"Perhaps you're right." He nodded; his voice with some enthusiasm. But then they were startled when they heard the loud knocking on the door; they though Suzaku came to get his revenge on him but when they heard a voice, it was fair to say that Lelouch knew that it was something far worse.

"Hey, Lelouch." a female voice uttered, "I know you're in there. Open the door."

Quickly, he leaped off the couch. Lelouch fretted, he knew exactly who it was, "Oh god, not her. Anyone but her."

Unlike him, Nunnally was happy to know who was at the door. She said with glee, "Oh good, it's her."

She rolled to the door and despite Lelouch's objections, she opened the door. Where they were face to face with said person, she smiled and greeted, "Hello, Lelouch. My darling big brother."

* * *

 _Later that evening,_ the sun was almost down, leaving a beautiful image in the sky. In front of a elegant restaurant, Alex stood in waiting, wearing an outfit too beautiful to fully describe. Inside, waited Elliot, Munch, Fin and Cragen, who took off work early, waited for Alex to come inside. But she was waiting for someone.

After what was at least seventeen minutes, a taxi pulled out in front of the place with Suzaku exiting said taxi. The very first person he saw was Alex, who was waiting for him to arrive – and he was more that happy to see her.

They two exchanged a tight hug, with the detective greeting, "Suzaku, hey!. It's so nice that you could make it."

"I wouldn't leave you high and dry, Alex." he smiled.

"Good. Because I would have killed you if you did show up." She proclaimed. Her expression showed a bit a seriousness, but she laughed and said, "I'm just kidding. Come on."

Alex escorted him inside, where she would lead him to their table. That is where Suzaku was confronted with four of her co-workers, two of which he has had extended contact with. They were neutral when they saw him, next to her. It was too late to back out.

Nevertheless, Alex introduced them to Suzaku, "Everyone, this is my newest friend, Suzaku Kururugi."

They all waved, and said in unison, "Hello."

"Suzaku, these are some of my co-workers." She introduced, "You know both Munch and Fin. This is Detective Elliot Stabler."

He gave out his hand and greeted, "Nice to see you... again."

"Nice to meet you again." Elliot said, shaking his hand. It was tight and firm...

"And this is our captain, Donald Cragen." She continued.

He brought out his hand and greeted, "Nice to meet you, young man."

"It's a pleasure, sir." Suzaku smiled, shaking his hand.

As they all sat down, Cragen noted something to Suzaku, "You're quite polite. Is that what she's been teaching you?"

"No, I know how to be proper when meeting new people."

Since they were getting the conversation going, Elliot took the time to ask, "So, I heard you go to school at Hudson?"

"Yes. I'm a four-year law student, and I'm about to graduate." he told the detective.

"That's good to know. One of my daughters went to school at HU, did you ever see her around?"

Suzaku was conflicted by his question, but thinking about it, something clicked in his head. So he asked him, "Wait, is your last name  _Stabler_?"

"Yes it is."

"Oh! Is Kathleen Stabler your daughter?" He inquired. Elliot nodded in a agreement, in which Suzaku told him, "Yeah, I know her. I was a freshman and we used to hang out. The best thing about her was she liked to poke fun at me. But I had no idea that you were her father."

"At least you two are only friends. That's all I care about."

"I understand."

"So you're a law student?" Munch inquired, "Interesting. You know Alex here was a prosecutor for a long time before she was promoted to detective?"

"Really?" He said in disbelief, turning over to Alex.

"Oh yes. I was an assistant district attorney for more than a decade, until my transfer here to SVU. That was when I had to resign."

"That's amazing."

She nodded, "Yeah. But I've also made some enemies during my tenure there. One of which almost cost me my life."

"I understand. Slightly."

"We're not here to talk about that." she chanted, wrapping her arm around him.

"That's right. Tonight is about you, so don't be afraid to have some fun with us."

The way they treated him was outstanding. At first, Suzaku was concerned that it would not go well, as did them, but after over an hour of talking over food, their opinions about each other drastically changed. And that was a good thing. Now their table had nothing but dirty dishes on it, and they waited for the bill. It was quiet as opposed to earlier that night, but then things got a bit uncomfortable when Elliot said to him:

"So I heard your girlfriend cheated on you?"

"Elliot!" Alex shouted. She turned over to him and said softly, "He didn't mean to say that, didn't you?"

Much to her disdain, Elliot retracted her words, "No, no. I did. I just want to know what happened. I can't ask a simple question?"

Before he let Alex rip right into him, Suzaku turned to her and said, "It's okay. I'm willing to tell you guys the story."

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want too." Cragen told him.

"No, no. He brought it up, so I might as well tell you guys." Suzaku retracted his comment, then begun to explain, "So, my girlfriend Kallen, whom I was dating for around a few years... I found out that she and my best friend Lelouch, had been sleeping together. I went to her and asked why she did it, but I was so mad at her, I balled up my hand into a fist and punched the coffee table so hard that it shattered and cut up my hand."

 _'So that explains that cuts on his knuckles.'_ Alex thought, looking down at his hand.

"What else happened?" asked Captain Cragen.

"I just walked out. As soon as I got home, I tried to get those emotions out of the way. Then about a week later, Alex showed up and comforted me."

"That was very nice of her."

Elliot asked him, "So what do you expect to do now? Especially with her and your friend?"

"I just don't know. Perhaps I need some time so I can find a way to forgive them."

Munch then told him, "I know how you feel. One of my wives cheated on me. It was back when I was in Baltimore, and it was the reason why I left and never came back. But things always get better with time, not sure about you but eventually, things do turn around."

"Thanks guys. You know, you all are perhaps the coolest people I've ever met. You all might be  _way_  older than me, but you guys are actually cool."

"Thank you very much." Alex whispered and hugged him.

After what was a wonderful time, they exited the restaurant; but not before paying their bill, but before Alex took him home, Suzaku suggested, "Hey Alex, Fin, Elliot? How about this weekend we go out to a club. You know, have a little fun."

"We'll see." Elliot replied, walking out to his car.

"I can do that. How's Sunday?" Fin agreed, also suggesting.

"That's nice. See you guys later."

They split to their respective vehicles, except Suzaku, who was offered a ride home from Alex. It was her way of making sure that he got home safe and sound. All and all, it was a good night.  _It didn't matter how good of a night Alex had, like she said, it was about Suzaku. It was her own way of helping him cheer up and meet new people – even though he's met a couple of them. Nevertheless, his happiness was all that mattered to her at that moment. And she was happy that her colleagues accepted him._

* * *

_Two days later, Alex decided to take up Suzaku's previous offer to go out to a nightclub with him, Detective Stabler and Sergeant Tutuola. Originally, Elliot didn't want to go out to any sort of club regardless of who it was but considering that he had a day off tomorrow, it wouldn't hurt. But there was a chance that he had church that morning. Still, he, Fin and Alex were more than happy to go out with him._

It was no later than 11:30 pm, that Sunday evening in a flashy nightclub that resided in Brooklyn, where three of the detectives accompanied Suzaku as simply a way to spend a Saturday night. This was unfamiliar territory for them, especially due to the fact they are most likely older than most of the people in the club.

But it was not like they enjoyed it. Elliot came for the drinks, Fin came... just because he was bored and Alex, who originally came for Suzaku, came for the music and also for the alcohol. They stood by the bar, since there wasn't a suitable table for them around. Alex, Fin and Suzaku watched as the people danced and tried to "get lucky"; but their instincts were still lingering around to watch out for anybody that could be in danger.

Elliot returned with their drinks. Alex ordered herself a gin and tonic, Fin ordered (simply) a beer and Suzaku just had a glass of vodka. Elliot handed their beverages, whist saying, "Okay, here you go. It better be right, because I'm not going back."

"How come?" Alex asked him.

He looked over, at the homosexual couple that was staring at him, "Probably because those two asked me something that made me uncomfortable."

"Do you always get hit on by gay dudes?" Suzaku inquired.

"Not always. My ex-partner however, she was hit on by all types of females." Elliot remarked.

"Oh really?" Suzaku chuckled. They all exchanged laughs for a moment up until Alex raised her glass and said:

"Here is to being single." She, Fin and Suzaku all cheered. Except Elliot, which Alex acknowledged, "And here's one for Elliot who is married."

"How long have you been married?"

Elliot told him with a straight face, "Longer than you've been on this earth. Wait, how old are you?"

"I'm 23." he told him.

"Longer than you've been on this earth." Elliot repeated.

Suzaku and the others shared another laugh, but when he opened his eyes, chills rushed through his body when he saw a girl around his age, walking by. He uttered with fear, "Oh my god. It's her."

Unsure what his problem was, Fin took a look over; so did Alex and Elliot. He asked him, "Who's that?"

"Do you know her, Suzaku?" Alex asked him.

They turned back over to Suzaku, who replied, "She's my ex-girlfriend... Euphemia."

* * *

**End of Chapter Eight**


	9. Bitter Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While hanging out with Alex, Suzaku bumps into Euphemia, his ex-girlfriend. When he goes out with her, things get strange.

_When I saw her walking by, I couldn't understand why Suzaku shuddered when he saw her. This made me curious more than anything, my first thought was why was he so scared of her but my second one was why would he break up with a girl of her caliber? He ran to the closest bathroom and refused to come out; I wanted to go in to see what was wrong but I didn't know if I should. I took a look at her and wondered the same thing: Why was he so scared of her?_

_But yet again, I don't know her like he does. I suppose it all fair trade. I took another glance and thought, 'Maybe there's more than what meets the eye.'_

_Back in the night club_ , the detectives followed Suzaku in the bathroom after he suddenly ran inside to hide from Euphemia, his ex-girlfriend. Neither Alex, Elliot nor Fin had any idea that she used to be his girlfriend, but there is probably something about this that doesn't add up to the detectives. Nobody usually acts this way towards a former lover; but they had to hear his side of the story first before they made anymore assumptions.

He wasn't hiding in the stalls but was in front of the sinks. Though the mirrors, he saw them standing behind him carrying some concern. Suzaku looked down at the sink, and he smirked, "So you followed me in the bathroom? That's not very nice."

Alex took a few steps towards Suzaku and asked him, "Suzaku, who is that girl and why are you so afraid of her?"

He bent his head back and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He cocked his head forward and turned around to the detectives, explaining, "The girl out there is Euphemia. She was once my girlfriend back home, she's also my best friend's younger sister. I thought of her as my first love, but suddenly things crumpled into pieces. I found myself on a plane to New York and I never saw her again."

Elliot walked a bit forward to him and wondered, "So she was your first girlfriend?"

"I thought that Kallen was your first?" Fin inquired.

Suzaku shook his head in disagreement, and told them, "No, no. Kallen was my  _first one_. But Euphemia was my first girlfriend. There's- a difference."

"I guess I understand."

Alex turned her head to Fin and Elliot, then back at Suzaku. Then she asked him, "How long have you known them?"

Walking away from the sinks, Suzaku took another deep breath and answered, "About as long as I've known Lelouch. We were all kids when we met. Thinking about it, I did receive some missed calls from Lelouch the other day, but I was asleep when he called."

"So you've never talked to him since you found out about him and your girlfriend?"

"We hadn't spoken for weeks. And this was before I found out. We've been too busy with school to even talk."

Even though he clarified some of the details for the detectives, there was one issue that they had to address – why is he in the bathroom, hiding from his ex-girlfriend? Fortunately, they didn't need to address it as he walked out the bathroom upon his own power. Suzaku returned, with the three detectives tailing him. He swallowed his fears and walked towards her, he had no idea what to say to her.

He took a good look at Euphemia and noticed how different she looked; He remembered her with long pink hair, but now it was cut short to her neck. He also knew that her body had developed since he last time he saw her. That's what it seemed like. Nevertheless, she was a bit different appearance wise, but personality wise... was another story.

"Uh... Hey, Euphie. Long time no see." Suzaku greeted, who stood there entirely nervous .

"Why hello, Suzaku. I certainly agree, it has been a long time." She replied, smiling at him. It was clear that after so long, her reactions and expressions hadn't changed much; "How long has it been, Suzaku?"

"Eight years." He told her, "It's been eight years since I last heard from you."

None of them didn't understand why he was so afraid of seeing her. In fact, it seemed as though she was a nice spirit. But Euphemia turned and looked behind Suzaku, noticing the detectives standing behind him. She looked up at Suzaku and asked him:

"So... who are your new friends?"

Suzaku turned back to them and answered, "Sorry, it's none of your concern."

"Oh come on. After all these years, you can't even introduce me to some new buddies?"

No matter how much he didn't want too, he grudgingly introduced them to her, "Euphie, this is Detectives Stabler, Cabot and Tutuola. They are a few people I recently met."

She smiled at the three detectives, taking out her hand and introduced herself, "Hello, I'm Euphemia."

Neither of the detectives didn't bother to shake hands with her. It wasn't out of dislike, but merely due to lack of concern. Feeling the tension around them, Suzaku walked out unannounced. They didn't say a word to him, they didn't so much as ask him where he was going. Considering how early they had to be tomorrow, they followed suit. Outside the night club, Alex saw him walking away from the car they came in.

She looked over, raised her hand and chanted, "Don't you want me to drive you home?"

Suzaku turned around, facing Alex and told her, "No thanks, I can walk home."

His words left Alex in disappointment; she lowered her arm and said quietly, "Alright. Stay safe." The blonde detective entered her car, preparing to drive her colleagues back home. She took a look in the back and saw the empty spot in the vehicle; Alex sighed and drove away from the club and on her way home.

* * *

_Alex's concern over Suzaku was great. There was no explaining it but even though Suzaku isn't her child, let alone the fact that she doesn't have kids herself, she boasted strong motherly instincts that always wanted to make sure that he was alright and that he didn't get into any trouble. This was something that nobody has learned, not Suzaku or any of her co-workers, but it should be safe to say that it's better not to let people know. In a lot of ways, she felt as though Suzaku could already feel those very instincts._

_The following day_ , before she came into work, Alex took a sudden detour to Brooklyn so she could drive Suzaku to school. It was not often that she volunteered to drive him to school; in fact, Suzaku had no problem taking either a taxi or the subway to Manhattan and back. But this day was something else.

As they were no less than ten minutes away, there was a long period of silence as she drove to the campus. It was raining early that morning, something that wasn't much of a bother; for as long as she could remember, Alex was always okay with rain – it relaxed her and cleared her head of any problems. Maybe that was why she decided to drive him to school.

While she was driving, Suzaku turned his head to the car window and said, "You didn't have to drive me to school, Alex. I would have gotten there by myself."

"No, I insist." Alex protested; looking at him through her peripheral, she stated, "Besides, it's such a nice morning. I just thought I'd take you to school."

"Alex, it's raining. I don't think it's a nice morning."

She smirked, turning her eyes back at the road and chuckled, "Well, I'm not sure about you, but I like the rain. It makes me calm and uplifting. I don't expect you to understand, what matters is I woke up and I wanted to take you to school."

"But aren't you worried that you might be late for work?" he inquired.

"Not exactly. I don't have to report to work for another hour, so it either gives me plenty of time to read, or get some coffee. No matter how I spend my time, I'll always get there early than expected."

"So that's the reason why you brought me to school? Even though it would make me a bit too early?"

She took a quick breath and explained to him, "Sometimes, it's better to go places ahead of time, rather than try to be  _on time_  and end up late. You plan ahead, you get ahead."

Before he could land a sentence, they had already arrived. Suzaku leaned back behind his seat to get his bag and umbrella and exited the car, but before he got out, he told Alex, "Well, thanks for driving me to school. Should I expect you here later or am I going solo?"

"I can take you home. Just let me know when I should get here."

"Okay then. Bye, Alex."

Suzaku got up out of the car, but was stopped when Alex suddenly shouted, "Wait! Come here."

He turned around and halfway re-entered the car, replying, "Yes? Something you want?"

Alex extended her arms out, whist smiling at him. He was confused about this, but Alex said to him, "Well? Are you waiting for something?"

"You want me to hug you?" he asked; Alex nodded in response. "Right now?"

"Yes. Is there a problem with that?"

Suzaku let out a chuckle and smiled at the detective, "Not at all." He reached over and gave Alex a hug; he tried to make it quick however, Alex had a commanding grip until she eventually let him go. They didn't exchange any other words, and she let him leave to go to class. Suzaku felt a bit of joy, or something that made him feel so happy. Not many people have ever experienced Alex's comforting side, not even her previous lovers, it was almost a rarity. But having that warm, protective feeling from someone makes them feel safe – and that was the case for Suzaku.

 _Now it was near the early evening when classes finally let out_ , when Suzaku took this free time to go to the school library so he could study for a while before he called Alex. This was something that he usually did before he went home, because he was never able to get any studying done at his apartment, and the fact that it was always quiet helped him think better and clearer.

He was sitting at one of the tables with a bottle of water, a bunch of books and absolute peace; as he read a book about capital punishment, Suzaku raised his head up and yawned but just as he opened his eyes, he saw Euphemia from a distance, searching for him. Quickly, he tried to find a way to exit the library unnoticed but he was far too late – she was already right in front of him.

He tried to weasel himself out of this, so he said with an awkward smile, "Um? Hey, Euphie. How's it going?"

"Seems to me that you don't want to see me." she assumed.

"What? No, no. It's not like that."

"Then what?" she exclaimed.

"Well, I... uh?" Suzaku was stuck, trying to figure out an excuse however, he noticed something odd, "Wait? How did you know which school I go too?"

"Oh it was not that hard. I just searched around until I found you." She smiled; the way she smiled at him made him feel uncomfortable. Seemed as though there was something malicious about her that he never was able to pinpoint before.

He looked around, anywhere expect her direction, and explained, "Look, I need to go home and do something important. I don't expect you to understand."

"Oh nonsense, you're coming with me tonight. We need to catch up."

She grabbed his wrist and tried to drag him out of the library but Suzaku was unwilling to abide, "Wait, what are you talking about? Where are we going?"

"Let's go out and have a drink. On me."

The next thing he knew, Suzaku was being dragged out of the library, almost leaving his things behind. Somehow, he knew that there was something different and for some strange reason, he was unable to figure out what it was. But what he did know what, he couldn't let her know that he was suspicious.

* * *

_Meanwhile, Alex was at work still as she waited for Suzaku to call. She sat at her desk bored albeit patience, waiting if she needed to take him home. Captain Cragen watched from afar, from his office door; he watched Alex constantly look at her phone, as if she was waiting for something She was._

_Cragen walked over to her desk and before he could ask anything, Alex said to him without looking, "Captain, I'm not chewing on any pens."_

" _I'm not here about that." He assured, "I'm here to ask why you've been sitting at your desk for the last hour?"_

" _Oh I was just waiting for someone to call. Don't worry."_

" _Could it be your young friend?"_

_Lying to her captain wouldn't be very wise, so Alex told him simply, "Yes. I am."_

" _Now don't worry, detective. He'll call you. But in the meantime, I need you and Munch to go to the hospital and talk our next victim."_

" _Understood, I'll get right on it." Alex leaped out of her chair and grabbed her coat, signaling Sergeant Munch to come along. Cragen didn't fully understand the nature of her relationship with Suzaku, and thinking about it, he doesn't know much about the lives of his people (unless they tell him); yet instincts usually hint what may be going on._

* * *

It was early in the evening in Manhattan, where Euphemia would drag Suzaku from the library and right into a crowded bar. Although Suzaku wouldn't object to a alcoholic drink once in a while, something about this was very off. For one, Euphemia does not drink or in other words – despite being of legal age, she has never considering drinking alcohol. However, that fact may be outdated considering that he hasn't had any contact with her for years.

Nevertheless, he found himself at one of the tables with the noise both unbearable and annoying. Then he started thinking about him and Kallen, and what Alex told him about drinking to solve his troubles. He was highly disciplined when it came to drinking, meaning that he had self control, so hopefully for him, he won't get too carried away.

Euphemia got up from the table and told Suzaku, "You stay right here, I'll be right back."

He didn't bother to look directly at her, but he did nod in response. With this time to himself, he thought about what could happen and what won't happen. He didn't want to be here, let alone with his ex-girlfriend. It was not like they ended their relationship on bad terms, on the contrary, their relationship abruptly ended when him and her siblings moved to New York.

Despite the large crowd, Euphemia came back no less than two minutes after she departed, with a tray of different beverages. He didn't want to be rude if anything, but he did tell her, "Euphie, I seriously hope you don't expect us to drink all of this. Besides, I don't drink that much."

She laughed out loud and said in response, "Oh don't be modest, Suzaku. I know how much you can drink."

"But... how do you-"

"It's better not to ask questions. You never know which one might be dangerous." she grinned, "But why I have all these drinks is so you could test them out for me. I'm not that much of a drinker so I just want you to try them first before I do."

At least that fact about her was true. Anyways, he still objected to the idea, "I don't know. I need to get up tomorrow. You know what, I try some then I'm going home."

"Great!" she said, with enthusiasm. Thus their night began.

All throughout the night, Suzaku tested out various drinks of different flavors and taste, some of which didn't really taste much like alcohol. The line-up mostly consisted of beers, hard liquor and most notably, colorful drinks; he had only taken small drinks of each one, but for some reason, he felt weird. He knew that full well that he did not drink the whole thing, but somehow he was feeling drunk.

But there was a problem – he knows how it's like to be drunk, this is something else. His vision was blurry and disoriented, but he could barely see Euphemia giving him every drink one by one. He could barely hear anything, he felt tired and his speech was slurred.  _It was now near 11 pm_ , where after "sipping" an entire tray of different beverages, he needed to go home to rest.

Suzaku got up, but the moment he was on his feet, he was dizzy. He mumbled to Euphemia, "I need to...need to go home. I-I gotta call Alex so she can pick me..up."

His sentence was mainly comprised of forgetting his words and belching. But she had another plan for him, so she carried him on her shoulder and whispered, "Don't worry. I'll take you home."

He could barely hear Euphemia, meaning that he could not really respond. Not like he could. And so, Suzaku found himself being driven back home by Euphemia; but there was a major indifference about this – she doesn't know where he lives, she could've found out someway but the fact remains valid. Anyways, the hums and the movement of the car caused him to fall sound asleep. He woke up at about the stroke of midnight, where he was feeling better than before but he still wasn't observant of his surrounding.

Suzaku didn't know if it was Alex that took him home or that Euphemia did, but all he knew was it did not look like his apartment. From the looks of it, it looked a lot like a upscale loft; but that could only be his imagination. Believing that it may be his apartment, he instinctively walked to his bedroom but Euphemia grabbed his arm and pulled him over to her.

He couldn't do anything. But to allow himself to be thrown on the couch – he's still going through the effects. Euphemia let open a grin as she slowly started to undress; she sat on top of him and started kissing him, unaware of what was going on, he reacted by wrapping his arms around her. There was no telling who he was thinking about.

She wasted no time with him, putting her hand up his shirt and continued to kiss his neck and cheek, until she reached for his lips. As she was attempting to work him up, his vision started to recover but all he could see was a pink blur. Meanwhile, she continued to kiss him and slowly made her way down. At some point, she stopped kissing him but began using her tongue. She was loving this but then things started to turn around in his favor.

Right before she could advance any further, his vision got far better and then, he could see Euphemia much clearer. Whatever he was on was finally wearing off, and he now had his mind right again. At the very moment he saw Euphemia, he noticed that she was sitting in his lap topless, with her hand dangerously close to his belt. His eyes widened and quickly he leaped off the couch, causing Euphemia to fall on the floor in the process.

He started panting mildly, and mumbled to himself, "I can't do this. I can't be here. I need to go home."

He wobbled to the door and exited the loft. Although he could see and hear clearly, Suzaku was still unobservant of what was around him, so he walked around aimlessly. He practically ran into things as he walked out, forgetting that some of his school supplies were still with her. However, his was more concerned about how he was going to get home. Meanwhile, Euphemia got up from the floor, putting her clothes back on and pouted:

"What a bummer. I was enjoying that. Oh well."

She didn't bother to chase after him. But simply let him go. For now.

* * *

**End of Chapter Nine**


	10. Hangover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying to deal with his old girlfriend, Suzaku turns to Alex for advice - but when he goes to pick up Kallen, he winds up doing more with her.

_Detective Cabot has no idea why she had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning, but apparently it was related to Suzaku. She was sleeping peacefully in her apartment when she received a call from a payphone located in Staten Island, she ignored it the first time but after the three more calls, she finally answered – only to find discover that it was Suzaku. Unbeknownst to the detective, Suzaku had an extremely long night which somehow led to him falling asleep in a fast food restaurant._

_If it wasn't bad enough that she had to go to work at 6 am that morning, she practically drove an hour and a half from Manhattan to Staten Island to Brooklyn_ _and_ _back to her apartment so she could get ready for work. But as much as she did not want too, she was willing to do it for him. Besides, she couldn't leave him there any longer. But all she knew before she got dressed, was that she had a long day ahead of her._

At about 11:30 the following morning, Suzaku woke up, finding himself back in his apartment after the night he had. He couldn't remember what had happened the night before but somehow, he was home safe. He looked around his apartment, trying to gain any recollection of what happened that night. He turned over to his door and saw a note attached. He opened it up and it read

_Suzaku, you called me last night_

_and told me that you were_

_in Staten Island. So I picked_

_you up and drove you home._

_You're welcome._

_\- Alex._

After he finished reading the note, it suddenly started to come back to him. What he could remember was that he was with Euphemia and somehow ended up in her place the rest was far too fuzzy for him to remember but he does remember calling Alex using a payphone and camped out in a fast food restaurant until she arrived. He investigated the door and noticed that it was kicked through, he reached in his pockets and was relieved that his keys and phone were still inside. But that didn't answer why someone kicked open his door.

He sat back down on the couch, with a raging headache. He knew full well that he didn't drink that much that night, or he drank more than he thought. That was a problem that he was dealing with, so in a attempt to cure his hangover, he walked back to his bedroom and back to sleep. Luckily, he doesn't have any classes that day.

* * *

 

 _Meanwhile_ , Alex was up all through out the morning, as she was suddenly woken up hours before she had to work. Caffeine only helped her for a while until she eventually started to crash. But then, she was splashed with ice cold water, which almost made her jump out of her skin – figuratively, that is. The blonde detective, who was now soaking wet, panted heavily; she looked up and discovered that Detective Stabler was the culprit.

"Well, great. You're finally back up." Elliot smirked.

Alex however, was not pleased. In scowled at the detective, "Stabler, you rat bastard. If you do that again, I'll put a bullet through your shoulder."

He smiled and chuckled in response, "Yeah, I'd like to see that."

"Do you want to try me?" she inquired. But they were both stopped by Sergeants Munch and Tutuola, who happened to be nearby.

Munch walked over and pointed out, "Seems to me that you've been exhausted all morning. What's wrong?"

"I woke up at about 4:30 this morning, finding out that Suzaku was in Staten Island, drunk off his ass." she explained, "Long story short, I drove out there and drove him back to Brooklyn and came back home so I can come here. And that's what you need to know."

"Where the hell was he?" Fin chimed in the conversation."

"All I know is he called me through a payphone and I found him in a fast food place. No worries though."

None of this seemed right to them, particularly Elliot who asked her, "Alright, now I don't understand. Why are you going out of your way for a kid you barely know?"

"Elliot, I don't expect you to understand. We may not have met on different terms but all you should know is Suzaku is a good young man, who needs someone in his life that he can trust. He's my friend, and that's all you need to know about us."

"I can understand that. I've never really judged your involvement with him anyways." Fin stated.

"Me neither. He seems like a nice kid, just misguided."

"Well actually, Suzaku has a very good head on his shoulders. The problem is, he doesn't have a mother in his life. Or anyone that he can even call a mother  _figure_. I thought that I could be that influence, whist being a friend as well. It might sound crazy or strange, but that's how it is. Besides, I've never truly criticized any of you for being close to someone."

They thought about it, and she was right. They didn't understand entirely about the nature of her relationship with him, but now seeing it in that perspective makes it slightly more understandable. Alex turned around and once again, was startled when she saw Captain Cragen standing right behind her. Again.

"Captain, how long have you been standing there?" Munch asked him.

"About a few minutes, at best." he replied, "So what is this about Suzaku? Is he doing alright?"

"He's fine, captain. I just had to wake up early to get him from Staten Island."

"Doesn't he live in Brooklyn, as I recall?"

"He does, but he got drunk and fell asleep in a booth at a fast food restaurant."

"Did he ever tell you what happened?" Cragen asked the blonde detective.

"Not quite. Hopefully, the next time I see him, he'll tell me." Alex answered, when he phone started ringing. She answered it, "Hello?"

 _'Alex, could I talk to you sometime later?'_  Suzaku asked her.

"Sure. But can't we talk now?"

_'I assumed you were busy working, so I asked if you could meet me later this afternoon.'_

"That depends if my captain would allow me too." she looked up at Captain Cragen when she told him. He nodded in agreement, allowing her to retract, "Wait, my captain will let me. So I'll see you later.

_'Great. Bye, Alex.'_

"Goodbye." greeted the detective, ending the phone call. The three detectives gave her neutral but interested looks.

Elliot wrapped his arms together and said, "So what, does he want to kiss your ass again?"

In response, Alex glared and replied, all while grabbing her stuff, "Shut up, Stabler."

She walked out of the squad room, irritated. Elliot didn't know what exactly he did wrong; but judging from the expressions given by his colleagues, it was obvious that he was being a jerk. Munch and Fin walked away and back to work, while Cragen stood where he was, looking around out of boredom.

Since their captain was still around, Elliot asked him, "What did I do wrong?"

"Elliot, stop bullying Alex." Cragen told him, "I don't understand her relationship with him, but I know that he's a good kid. And if Alex sees that, maybe you should too. I see it, Munch and Fin sees it, what does that say about you?"

He shrugged in response and answered, "I don't know. I guess I probably won't be able to understand her friendship with him."

"Exactly. But you can at least respect their friendship."

His captain's words were wise and made sense; thinking about it, he didn't really want to be an ass about her friendship with Suzaku, probably because he's been unable to understand why she would engage in any type of relationship with someone like him. What mostly attributed in his disdain about him was when he was previously a suspect, but later turned out to be innocent. That suspicion alone made it difficult for him to trust Suzaku with the likes of Alex.

Nevertheless, like Cragen said, it's better to respect it rather than judge. Something like that.

* * *

 _It was nearly 4pm that afternoon_ , when Suzaku sat alone in a coffee shop waiting for Alex to arrive. He was troubled in some certain ways, and it seemed as though Alex was the only person that he could talk too. The problem was, he was doubtful that she was willing to even listen to his problems, considering that she woke her up so early that morning to pick him up. Somewhere in his head, he assumed that she was likely not very fond of him right now.

He messed around with his phone, whist his slice of cheesecake was getting cold and his cup of orange juice got warm. He sighed when he saw that it was almost 4:30, guessing that she was not coming after all; so he got out of his chair and was prepared to take his food and drink with him.

But to his surprise, he saw Alex walk in which gave him a sign of relief. He sat back down as Alex walked to the table and greeted, "Hey, Suzaku."

"Hello, Alex." Suzaku replied, with apathy in his voice.

"What's wrong?"

He sighed once again and said, "You probably aren't in the mood to hear it."

"What makes you think that?" she inquired; but Suzaku responded with a simple shrug. Alex looked over to the counter and saw a bunch of desserts, so she told him, "Wait a second, I'm going to go order something and I'll be back."

"You don't have too. You can have this cheesecake instead."

"Alright. Lucky for me, I was in the mood for cheesecake." she smiled and with no hesitation, started digging in to the cheesecake, "So again, why are you so down?"

"I don't know. It's complicated."

"Is it because of this morning?" she asked, while putting another bite of cheesecake in her mouth, "If it is, don't worry about it. I'm not mad at you. If anything, I'm exhausted but not mad. Besides, you should know that I'd never leave you there so I had to pick you up, and I'm more than willing to do so because we're friends."

"That's very kind of you, Alex." Suzaku replied, cheering up a little, "But that's not what I'm upset about."

Alex was intrigued about what he may be talking about; so she asked with concern, "What are you upset about? Tell me."

"Well yesterday, Euphie came to the school library and dragged me to a bar. I didn't want too, but all I can remember is that I was sipping these drinks and suddenly I lost control. Next thing I knew I saw her on top of me. I don't know how I ended up in Staten Island, but all I do know that I didn't drink that much."

"Is it possible that you forgot how much you drank that night? Because judging from what I'm hearing, is when you lost control as you mentioned, you may have also lost your memory of that night. At least that's what I believe."

"Do you think that she spiked all those drinks?" he exclaimed.

"Most likely."

Now it was all settling in; he knew that something was incredibly off that night so he knew that she tried to do something to him. He sighed again, this time with defeat, and told Alex, "Thank you. Now it all makes sense. But answer me this."

"Sure what is it?" she replied.

"What should I do, in regards to what to do with my ex-girlfriends?"

"Personally, I can't tell you what to do." Alex explained, "But my advice, I'd try to find a way to deal with it. In the most mature way possible."

"I suppose you're right."

* * *

 _Later that day, somewhere in Manhattan_ , Kallen sat alone in a bar, also waiting for someone to arrive. Ever since the events that occurred months ago, she has been feeling depressed, alone and regretful about what had happened. It has been three months exactly when Suzaku dumped her, after something that was entirely her fault. Nobody can really give her any sympathy, especially after she was unfaithful. And she was paying for it.

Another person in a pool of self-pity, was Lelouch, who came in the bar searching for her. Like her, he has also dealt with the aftermath; he was Suzaku's best friend just as Kallen  _was_  his girlfriend. He spotted Kallen from a distance and walked over. He sat next to her and sighed deeply.

He greeted the red head, "Good evening, Kallen."

Looking over to her right side, she greeted, "Hello."

The small exchange of words were merely followed by a mark of silence. They knew that their meeting was bittersweet, considering the circumstances. He took a minute of his time to order a beer – only a beer, he didn't drink when he's depressed or upset. After what was approximately six minutes with no words exchanged, Lelouch finally opened up and stated:

"We really screwed the pooch this time. Didn't we?"

"Yeah. I never felt so stupid." Kallen nodded.

"I don't want to pass the buck, but why didn't you tell me that you two were together? Was it that you were embarrassed to be be with him?"

"It's not like that. I just-" she tried to explain, but gave up on her sentence and said, "Screw it, I just didn't want too. Not because I was embarrassed to be around him."

"Good to know." he nodded, then pointed out, "Well it seemed that Suzaku has been giving us the cold finger. He hasn't answered any of our calls, texts, anything."

Right before he could continue, Kallen interrupted him, "I haven't called him at all."

"How come?"

"Why should he talk to a cheater like me?" she scoffed, "Besides, he's better off."

"Are you saying that, or do you mean it?" Lelouch asked her; she didn't respond. But at any rate, he stated, "I don't want to pity myself. I didn't know. But it's not like he'll buy it. For all I know, he still might be mad at me, so I'll just keep my distance. Besides, it is the least of my problems right now."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. Don't bother yourself."

For the next few hours or so, they would spend the night drinking. At some point, Lelouch went home after having one or two beers; Kallen however, remained their for the remainder of the night. She would rather spend the night drinking, instead of going home like what Lelouch did.

_Meanwhile, after leaving the coffee shop, Suzaku and Alex stuck around for a while longer, spending most of their time in Central Park reading. As it was getting late, Alex offered to take Suzaku home. But before they could leave, Suzaku's phone started ringing._

_He answered it, "Hello?"_

_Chills ran though his skin when he heard that it was Kallen; she replied, 'Suzaku... is that you?'_

_He balled up his hand into a fist and said, "Yes. Yes it is."_

_'Well, could you take me home? I'm too drunk to drive home.'_

" _Why not take a taxi?"_

_'Suzaku, please? I can't go alone.' she pleaded. As much as he didn't want too, he reluctantly agreed, "Sure. Where are you?"_

* * *

Walking from Central Park to a bar just nearby, Suzaku went to go pick up his drunk ex-girlfriend. Although he was previously expected to be driven home, he told Alex to go home instead. Alex showed a bit of concern, as she was unaware of who it was he was speaking too; but she knew that meddling in his business wouldn't help him any.

He walked into the bar, searching for Kallen. Annoyed as he was, he also had to deal with drunk morons bumping into him and/or trying to pick a fight with him. He would soon find Kallen at the bar, knocked out cold. He sighed as he walked over to her and tried to wake her up.

"Kallen... wake up!" he yelled at a passed out Kallen, shaking her in an attempt to wake her.

She slowly woke up, to see that Suzaku actually came for her. She got up out of the stool and was wobbly when she was back on her feet. She greeted him, "What's up, Suzaku? You actually came for me."

"Yeah, I'll take you home." he said, hardly any emotion in his tone. She walked over to him, but considering how drunk she was, Kallen fell but right into his arms. He was not expecting this, not by a long shot. He asked the drunk red head, "Where are your keys?"

She reached in her pocket and tossed them at him. He assisted her out of the bar, and out to her car. From there, he drove her home. She lived not too far from the bar but he knew that he couldn't let her walk home drunk at night, or worse – allow her to drive home drunk.

As he drove her home, he thought of all the times she had blown him off during the time that they dated and started to wonder,  _How long has she been really cheating on me?_  All these questions that he wanted to ask her, but she probably was unable to answer him. All and all, he just wanted to know. Still, it was hard for him to believe her.

He drove in to the parking lot of her apartment building, and woke her up right as he was getting out of the car. He shook her frantically, until she eventually woke up and exited her car upon her own power; however, he still assisted her inside. Since he had her inside, the most gentleman thing to do was to lead her to her door – and her apartment was far up.

Suzaku opened the door and let go of her, telling her, "Alright, I took you home. Good night."

He walked out the door until suddenly, Kallen grabbed his wrist, stopping him from leaving. Despite how inebriated she was, she had a commanding grip on him and as hard as he tried to break free, she pulled him into her chest. Kallen held him for as long as she could.

"Please don't go. I want to spend the night with you." she whispered. Suzaku continued to struggle against her grip, but she let him go – only to grab his face and kiss him. He tried to back away, but his hands would travel up and down her back. It was much too late.

She wrapped her arms around him, effectively lifting herself off the ground. He didn't want for this to happen, in fact he was hoping that it wouldn't happen; but to his surprise, his emotions and own desires would overcome his control. He straddled her, carrying her around the room, with their lips still together. As cold as the apartment was, they were both sweating.

In the heat of the moment, Suzaku pinned her back against the wall, with one of her legs around him. Within ever second, piece by piece, their clothes were on the ground. Next thing he knew, they were in her bedroom, panting heavily and stared at each other for as long as they could.

He reached down to her neck and she whispered, "I don't want this to end."

Already too caught in this euphoria, he whispered back, "Yeah. Me neither."

That night was filled with heat, awkwardness and mostly passion that couldn't really be described. And he enjoyed every second of it.

* * *

**End of Chapter Ten**


	11. Malevolence (Part One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weeks after sleeping with his ex-girlfriend, Suzaku starts slumping at school, which prompts Alex to help him; an incident in the precinct changes Alex and Suzaku's relationship.

_We all face problems in our lives. Some that we are willing to share, some that are too difficult and others that can be told just by their body language. Now, a lot of our problems usually attribute to personal issues – things that are going on in our lives. But if you saw it in Suzaku's point of view, it is not that black and white. Looking into his life through your own eyes, you see someone who doesn't seem to have any problems; a person who hides those problems._

_But a look through his eyes, you see a man struggling to deal with life, and it trying his best to work through it. Now looking through one's eyes may give you a first-hand look in their life for at least a while, but looking at their past is something else. If you looked into his past, through his perspective, he has lost both his parents – one gone from the beginning, and another that passed on when he was a child; he's been raised for a certain part of his life by relatives and then – by his best friend's mother._

_Someone who has had very little people in his life, the some that were in his life at one point, are either gone or far away, and the people that he's close to now, he can hardly trust anymore. Now there is no way to you can say that Detective Cabot understands him, if you could ask, she realizes how difficult he's had it but at the same time, is in awe of how well he's turned out. Perhaps that sometimes, you have to cling on to the very little clique you might have, and hope they have your back._

_But as much as that might be all well and done, those people may turn against you. That is life. But before he met his older, female companion, he had a nice life: He was in school, he had a lover, nice friends, nice place, but as great as it may be, it still like a bunch of dominoes – they may be up now, but it only takes one for them all to fall down. But if he was alone, would he have had dealt with this all alone? Unlikely. It was not until he met Alexandra Cabot, was when he realized that life might crumble in your hand, but it takes one person to keep it all from disintegrating._

_Maybe that was the meaning of their relationship? There is a lot that is yet be be told._

* * *

_In the early morning hours in Manhattan,_  the sun shined down forcefully in the eyes of a sleeping Suzaku, who was in a bed that wasn't really his own. He was almost entirely naked, when he was woken up by the sun in his eyes and the alarm clock that beeped frantically. He partially got out the bed, his head pounding like a hammer and his clothes scattered all across the room.  _And some of hers._  He was hardly awake for starters, and was unable to notice the clothes or the room.

Or very much, the bed. Suzaku lied back down to try and get a few more minutes of sleep. His left hand searched around the bed, and found another body accompanying him. Noticing that there was something incredibly off, he got back up – only to see a fully nude Kallen in his bed... well,  _her_  bed to be specific. He didn't make a peep, but carefully slipped out the sheets to gather his clothes. He thought about how he even got into this position, nor did he remember entering her apartment.

This was mysterious, especially due to the fact that he wasn't drunk when he drove her home last night. He tried to make sure that she didn't notice anything, so he could slip out before she woke up. He thought he could take an escape out the window, but noticed that it was entirely impossible – if he felt like dying. He quickly got his clothes back on, without looking poorly dressed.

However, as he was putting on his pants, he was having trouble putting them back on. His constant struggles would end up causing him to trip and fall right on the bed, abruptly walking up Kallen. She was entirely hungover and looked around the room aimlessly for a while. She took a glance at Suzaku, with his pants half-on and trying to leave without notice; she would cover up her chest and asked him.

"What are you doing?"

Like his pants, he struggled to make up an excuse as to why he was putting his clothes back on. Either way, he made up something, "Um, just... getting ready to take a shower."

"With your pants on?" she exclaimed. Calling his bluff, he thought of something else but she would stop him by saying, "Suzaku, please. I know what you're trying to do. Please sit down for a second, I want to talk to you."

He was seriously inclined not to do it, given the situation. But he pulled his pants up and sat back down on the bed, and said, "Alright, now what do you want to talk about?"

"Now that I can talk to you calmly, I want to explain myself to you."

Suzaku was in no mood for this. It wasn't bad enough already, the last thing he wanted to hear was an excuse. He replied before she explained, "Kallen, don't start. I don't want to hear some half-ass excuse about how it's not all your fault. We're not in high school anymore, damn it. I just don't want to hear any excuses.

"But it's not an excuse." she rebutted, "It's all my fault. I did wrong, not Lelouch. If there is anybody you should punish, it should be me."

"Okay. Answer me this." Suzaku asked her, "Why did you do it? All this time I've been with you, the crap I've put up with and for what? Make me understand why someone I trusted would screw me over like you did?"

She was put off guard, trying to figure out herself why but alas, she answered with a sigh of defeat, "I-I don't know."

"Exactly. You don't know. I won't make any assumptions as to why you did it, but the last thing I need is to pander around asking why. All I know for sure is, I'm not sure if I should trust you."

"But Suzaku, I-" she tried to say, but he interrupted.

"Save your proclamations for some other time. I just need some time to think. Understand that I don't want to hurt you or make you cry, I know you better than that. The both of us needs time to re-evaluate ourselves before the next time we meet."

"I understand." she agreed.

"Well good." he nodded, leaning over and kissing her cheek, "Don't you dare cry, Kallen."

He walked out of her bedroom, without another word. She decided to do her best not to cry this time – at least this time, she was willing to admit that it was her own fault. But it won't change what has already happened; she knows that, Suzaku know that and that was the end of it. However, it seemed as though she was trying to conceal something from him.

* * *

 _It was nearly four weeks since his one night stand with Kallen_ , when Suzaku took the time to go to the precinct and into the SVU squad room. Like everyday, it was busy and so far the only person that he was able to talk to about his problems was Alex. But even though he was able to talk to her about almost anything, there were always some things that he usually omitted whenever he spoke to her. Could be something or nothing.

But today, instead of talking to the blonde detective, he sat at the desk of Sergeant Munch, who was in the middle of work. He saw him walk by his desk and sat down, but he didn't mind. As Munch was going through some police business, Suzaku slipped a yellow folder over to him. Munch noticed the folder and looked up at him, and saw how sad and displaced he was at that moment.

He looked back down at the folder and asked, "What's this?"

Suzaku did not respond, but allow Munch to look into his folder.  _It was a copy of his transcripts._  He saw nothing really off about it but for some reason, he saw how depressed he was, as if something was on his mind but after further investigation, he noticed a few bad grades on his transcripts. Seeing how he was at that very moment, Munch asked him:

"Is everything alright? Are you and Alex going through some problems?"

"Oh no, me and Alex are fine. It's just..." he replied, stopping his sentence short.

"Just what?"

Suzaku sighed heavily and explained, "A few weeks ago, I was intimate with Kallen once more."

"Oh you mean, you had a one night stand?"

"Yeah. Ever since then, I've been thinking about her all over again. So much that I haven't been focusing on school very well."

"Hm. Shouldn't this be something that you should be telling Alex? Why me?"

"I felt like coming to you." Suzaku replied, "Besides, as far as I know, I need to keep my grades up or else I'm not sure I'll graduate. Worse enough, my midterm is coming up."

This was a certain type of difficult for Munch, who didn't really know how to deal with him. Truthfully, he liked him very much and he and Sergeant Tutuola have enjoyed the time they've spent with him and Alex, however this was not a situation that he was accustomed too. Especially if it's him.

Like it or not, Munch suggested, "Well if you aren't doing so well in school, why not ask Alex for help? Maybe she could tutor you sometime so you don't fail."

"I guess so. But I don't know if I can ask her."

"Why not?"

"It's because she's already done a lot for me, I don't want to feel like a burden to her."

He couldn't understand why he would say that; so in response, he dispelled his statement, "Why say that? Alex would be more than happy to help you. Besides, she tells us about how great you've been doing. Now you two may not be blood, but she is definitely proud of you."

"I suppose you're right, Sergeant."

In awkward timing, Alex walked into the squad room, holding some sort of files. She walked past them and smiled, but Munch stopped her and said, "Hey Alex, could you come here for a second?"

Though she was busy, Alex replied, "Uh... sure. What do you want?"

"Well... go ahead and ask her." Munch turned over to Suzaku and told him.

Alex was interested, wondering what he could've wanted. As for, Suzaku, he fretted – trying to ask her in some sort of way, but he overcame his nerves and asked the detective, "Um, Alex? I need a little help with school. Could you possibly tutor me sometime this week?"

A bit of silence swept across; neither him or Munch thought like saying anything else until Alex responded, but she wasted no further time by answering, "Sure, I'll tutor you. How about tomorrow night?"

"That would sound great."

"How about tonight?" Munch suggested.

"I can't tutor him tonight, I have all this work that needs to be done." she rebutted.

As a way to help this conflict, Munch got up and grabbed the folders from her arms, telling her, "Well why not Fin and I handle the load and you go and help him with his grades?"

"You're willing to do my work for the rest of the night?" she inquired.

"If it's to keep this young man in school, then absolutely."

Although  _this_  was something she wasn't accustomed too, Alex had no other objections and simply grabbed her things and took Suzaku with her, clocking out early that evening. Like he was worried about before, he believed that he was becoming too much of a burden to her, but that couldn't be any more far fetched than it already was.

* * *

 _Meanwhile_ , Kallen decided to take some time out of her evening to try and talk to Lelouch once again. Things so far between them have been strained, just like their current situation with Suzaku. It has been four weeks since her one night stand with him and just like him, she couldn't stop thinking about him. At least her thoughts were of a good nature, unlike his, which were conflicting – at least to him that is. Kallen was still determined to make things right between the three, by any means necessary.

She arrived at his apartment building, searching for his. But right before she could make her way upstairs, she noticed Nunnally rolling inside the building in her wheelchair, being assisted by another neighbor. Kallen thought that things were fine between them, even after what had happen all that time ago. But she was unsure of that, so she went over to her so she could talk.

Kallen walked over (as mentioned earlier) to Nunnally and greeted, "Oh hello, Nunnally. Is your brother home?"

To her surprise, she scoffed at the red head, "Why? You here for more sex from him?"

Her comment left her unresponsive, but she would work up the words and replied, "What do you mean?"

"Don't play stupid with me. I know why you're here."

"I'm not here to sleep with him, I just need to talk to him. It's important."

Nunnally was quite stubborn with her, turning away from her face as if she hated her look. But as much as she disliked her at that moment, she told her, "Lelouch is here. He's studying for his test tomorrow."

"Okay thanks." Kallen nodded, making her way up to his apartment; but suddenly, Nunnally shouted out:

"Hey come back here! I want to ask you something."

She turned over, leaned down and replied, "What is it?"

Nunnally, who was upset for some reason, asked her, "Why did you hurt Suzaku like that? I've known him about as long as you have – if not longer, what did he do to you that made him deserve something so unforgiving? Answer me that, before you talk to my brother."

This was a rough spot for Kallen, who has been unable to figure out why herself, but she told her, "I know you're upset about what happened, but you wouldn't understand."

"I'm not a kid anymore. I understand what's right and wrong, so tell me why you wronged someone that loved you? In fact, do you even love him?"

It was hard for her to explain, in anything. She tried to explain to her in someway possible, but whenever she tried to think of the words to express it, she gets blocked. She went down on one knee and explained to her, "Listen, I know what I did was wrong but understand that I still love him, and I didn't want or never wanted to hurt him like that. It's just because... well, I can't tell you why. But know that I screwed up, not him or your brother."

"I still don't understand." she said.

Kallen sighed deeply and told her even further, "I don't expect you to understand. If you wish to be mad at me, go ahead. It won't change what I did wrong and it won't help the fact that he hates me now. Seems like poetic justice. I hated him, and now that I started loving him, I made him hate me. But I want to make it right with him."

Although it sounded weird to her ears, she reached over and touched Kallen's hand, and she could feel the remorse that she has. It was genuine and her words were definitely sincere. Nunnally understood that she has been through hell because of her own actions, and she was making herself pay for it. No matter what the situation was, she realized how it may be for, not only for Suzaku, but Kallen as well.

"I don't condone your actions, but I know that you are truly guilty of them. At least I understand now."

"Thank you very much for understanding."

Nunnally reached around and pulled out a array of keys, handing them to her and said, "Here. Talk to him, maybe you two can try and repair what is lost."

She took the keys and nodded in appreciation. So from there, she went up several floors to his apartment so she could speak to him about Suzaku, as previously intended. Now like his sister, Lelouch was also quite stubborn when it came to this. In his perspective, he has already lost his friend and doesn't know what to say to him. He couldn't put himself in his perspective, but he knew that he should try to make it right between them – without making Kallen out to be the enemy.

Anyways, she make her way to his apartment door, opening it. Kallen was silent and careful because she didn't want to bother him of whichever mojo he had at the moment, but she looked around to see if he was in the living room. As she fully entered, she saw his books on the table but he was nowhere to be found; her current assumption was that he was in the bathroom.

"Lelouch?" she called out, still looking around. She could hear water running but was unsure what it was, so she said, "Where are you?"

This was awfully suspicious to her, because he wasn't exactly a lazy person. But when she noticed his shirt on the floor, that is when her suspicions grew larger – he was certainly  _not_  a dirty person. As she got closer to his bedroom, she was far more careful of being noticed. Then suddenly, the water stopped. Hearing it closer, she noticed that it was a shower so it seemed to her that he was washing off.  _But why?_  This was all too strange, so she inched even further.

Now she dispelled all possibilities that it's only him, since he wouldn't just take a shower while he studying. That didn't sound like him – unless something spilled, which was inconclusive. Kallen got closer to his bedroom door and noticed that it was slightly open. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and saw him in his bed, nearly naked. She let out a sigh of relief, but she noticed something. When she walked closer to him, she noticed that he was hardly unresponsive. He was conscious but wouldn't wake up.

"Hey, wake up." she tried to wake him up, but no avail. Again to her surprise, another pair of footsteps were heard; Kallen looked to the left to the bathroom door and saw someone walking out and she shocked to see who came out.

Chills went through her spine, and blood started to boil. But her face showed nothing but distress. It was Euphemia, walking out of Lelouch's bathroom, fully naked and barely covering herself with the towel. Her mind started running all over the place, and hatred started to take over. Meanwhile, Euphemia knew that she was there, so she smiled at her whist sitting down on the other side of the bed.

She crossed her legs together and greeted the red-head, "Kallen Kozuki, oh it's been far too long."

Kallen fretted, as she gave deathly stares to Euphemia; she replied, "What are you doing here?"

She leaned over to an unconscious Lelouch and told her, "Oh I just came to visit. You don't need to worry, he's been in good hands. In fact, he was very cooperative."

At that moment, as she brushed his hair with her fingers, Kallen grew furious and growled at the pink haired woman, "What the hell did you do to him?"

* * *

 _Meanwhile, Detective Cabot took Suzaku out to tutor him, upon the wishes of Sergeant Munch. But instead of his place, they went elsewhere._  It was nearly 8pm that evening, where Alex was driving Suzaku some place where they could study. Throughout the drive there, Alex refused to mention where she was taking him – he believed that she was taking him to a library.

But no, she instead pulled into a parking lot and parked her car. Still, Suzaku had no idea what was going on but he could hint when Alex got out and said, "Alright, get out."

He made no hesitation and unbuckled himself, exiting the car. He asked the blonde detective, "Where are we?"

"You'll see." she smiled; signaling him to follow her inside.

Now instantly, he knew that it was an apartment building but there were still questions that roamed in his head still, wondering where did she take him. He consistently asked her where they were, but she gave him no response whenever he asked. Her apparent secrecy only made him nervous, but after walking up hundreds of stairs, she stopped him – indicating that they had arrived.

She opened the door and waved him inside; when he walked in, she turned on the lights and said, "Suzaku, welcome to my home."

He looked around in awe, asking her, "So this is your place? Very nice."

"I take very good care of my things." Alex chuckled, taking off her shoes and walking towards her bedroom, "I'm going to go change out of these clothes, so you just get yourself settled in. I'll be right back."

"Alright then, I will." Suzaku replied, as she walked out to her bedroom. With this time, he set his backpack on the couch and took a look around. He loved the view that her apartment had but was more interested in what she had around the place. Looking at pictures she had around, what type of furniture she had, and more notably the amount of books that she had in her apartment. He didn't perceive her much as a book lover but yet again, there is probably a lot he doesn't know about.

Looking at one of the pictures, he was amazed how a little girl like her turned into. Alex was, at least to Suzaku, a woman that should be idolized – something that Suzaku has never told her before. In summary, he liked her apartment and how well put she was even in private, like she did in at work. He didn't want to snoop around too much so he just kept his boundaries to avoid getting in trouble, and sat on the couch and waited for her to return.

Alex came back, in her casual clothing, which was something still new for Suzaku who has mostly seen her in work form. She smiled at him and said, "So what should we start with?"

"Before we start, I want to say that you have a lot of books." he stated; Alex looked over to her shelf and chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, I do have a lot of books. Is that a problem?"

"No not really. I like that you are into literature." He rebutted, "I do too, but I don't usually have anyone to talk too about books and stuff. Well, used too."

"Well now you do. If you want, you can borrow a few of them. All I ask is that you return them to me in the same condition."

"Okay." he nodded, sitting back on the couch, "Now, here is a rundown of the workload I'm dealing with. I have to at least ace it in order to pass. Not like it is recommended, it's only my personal goal for a couple of these classes."

Alex took a look at the spread of papers and assignments that he's gotten himself into. She knew full well that he was already doing fine but knew that there may have been a few other things that he hasn't learned as of yet. This could prove to be much of a challenge... even for Alex.

She walked to her book shelf to search for something that they could need for this session, she pulled them out in between two mystery books, walked over and sat right beside Suzaku. He looked over to her to ask her but she was already ahead of him.

"Now these are two books that you help you brush up on your knowledge of the law." Alex explained, "Now let me tell you myself, when I read these it didn't make much sense either but luckily, you have me to guide you through it. But you have to pay very close attention."

"I understand. You have a lot of books, Alex."

"Yes, I do. Now  _this_  book will help you fully understand the American legal system,  _this_  one is about civil procedure," Alex introduced these books to him, and pulled out a larger one, "And this one is probably the best one. This is a first edition law dictionary, I've had this in perfect condition since I was fifteen. People tried to buy it from me, and they never will."

"So these dozen books could help me through school?"

"Trust me, these will definitely help."

All throughout the evening, she taught him and guided him with the things that he was struggling hard on. It was a vast mixture of knowledge of the legal system, old cases and a rundown of tricks usually performed by attorneys, either the prosecution or the defense. She told him what to do and what not to do as a lawyer and went through the punishments. She wasted no time on him whatsoever, leaving nothing out and made sure he understood.

Still, lucky for both of them, Suzaku is not only a good listener but a fast learner, being able to get all of it down just as Alex tells it. He understood every word of it and notably, she told him some other important things that he was unaware about. Needless to say, she was amazed by his progress throughout the evening and was happy that she was able to assist him throughout the night. It was nearly 11pm that night where they were about to wrap things up.

As they were, Suzaku walked over to the book shelf and picked up a book while Alex had her back turned. He wanted to ask her badly. While she was gathering up everything, Suzaku tapped her shoulder a few times and asked, "Um, Alex? I want to thank you for all the help you've given me so far tonight."

"Okay, you're welcome. But you can save it for when you pass."

"Yeah. But..." he nodded, turning away for a second and back at Alex. He presented the book to her and asked, "Do you know what this book is?"

Alex took a better look at it and answered, "Oh this is something that I found last week. Even I haven't read it yet."

"Oh. That's good to know."

She took a look at him, then at the book and once again back at him, and suggested, "Do you want me to read it to you?"

"No, no. You don't have to do that. I'm not a little kid, Alex."

"Oh I insist. Maybe we can read it together. How's that sound?"

It may have been strange to him, and a bit childish. But regardless of how he felt about it, he smiled at her and replied, "That would be very nice."

Within an instant, Alex sat back down on her couch, with Suzaku sitting beside her. She took her hand and gently pushed Suzaku's head to her left shoulder, letting him rest there; and she started to read the book out loud for him to hear. He could read very well and understood the words, but he'd rather not say anything but allow the words flow through her lips.

_It was a warn autumn in Arkansas, the sun was setting over the small village. The leaves were red and crisp, a cool breeze could be felt and the people were simple and friendly. The beauty setting of this country home could only be matched by the kindness of the old man that lived there. He was a kind old man, selfless, caring and respectful. While as many men were filled with riches, he was rich in character – a rarity these days._

_He watched the sun go down, from the view of his porch, sitting alone in his chair as he waited for dinner to be prepared. He felt the cool breeze on his skin and was reminded of how calm it was to live in a place like this – a place that he always visited when he was younger, was now his warm and comforting home. This type of simplicity was all he could as for, and he never thought of what tomorrow may bring, he just lived his days one by one._

It was nearly 1am that evening, as Alex continued to read through the whole book. Currently she was almost finished with it, and spend no more or less than two hours reading to herself and Suzaku. As she read it, she loved every word, and anticipated the next chapter as she went along. Turning every page with her fingertip, she read it line by line and loudly enough for Suzaku to hear her.

As she continued to read, she felt something on her lap. Alex took a momentary break and looked down, and saw Suzaku resting comfortably on her lap. Alex suspected nothing worse about this, and heard only but the distinct, quiet snores coming from him. This made her realize that despite his age, he was really a little boy deep inside that was long suppressed due to the lack of a mother. She smiled with a sense of grace and allowed him to rest on her for a while longer.

For at least an half hour, she let him rest on her under the assertion that he was very tired as he was. Alex petted his head and stroked his hair slowly and gently with her fingers, allowing her motherly instinct to take fourth and make him comfortable. After that half hour, she slowly and carefully slipped a pillow in the spot where her lap was; not like he could tell the difference, and draped a blanket over him so he could rest easily.

An exhausted Alex brushed away the hair over his ear and kissed said area, whispering to him, "Good night, Suzaku."

She walked away and retired to her bedroom, allowing him to stay for the remainder of the night. As for the book that she was reading, she placed it right in front of him on the table. At least now, Alex could rest easily knowing that he's safe and sound.

* * *

 _The next day_ , took place in the SVU squad room, where Suzaku would take another visit to the precinct and say hello to his friend. It was late in the afternoon and it was already too late for lunch, but that was not why he was there. He came to see if she could continue to tutor him that day, and considering that Alex was busy, he waited patiently for her to arrive.

During work, Elliot and Fin walked by and saw that Suzaku was sitting on her desk waiting. The both walked over to him and Elliot asked, "Hey, what are you doing here? Waiting for Alex?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact." he replied, "Is she here? I wanted to ask if she was available to tutor me again today?"

"Oh yeah, she's in there talking to a witness." Fin explained, "Don't worry, I'll go in there and tell her that you're here."

He nodded in response, and waited for the sergeant to return with Alex. As he waited around her desk, with Elliot standing right beside him, someone walked into the precinct.  _It was actually Kallen_. She looked around searching for something, this of which started making them wonder. What and how did she find her way there?

Kallen noticed Suzaku from afar and immediately rushed over to speak to him; he didn't have to say a word at all. She told him urgently, "Suzaku, thank god I found you."

Though this may have been none of his business, Elliot chimed in, "Hello, I'm Detective Stabler. Is there a problem here?"

"Oh good. Now I can tell both you and a detective."

"Tell them what, Kallen?" said a distinct female voice, that startled both Kallen, Suzaku and Elliot. They turned around and saw Euphemia standing distantly behind them.

 _Meanwhile_ , Fin was in one of the interview rooms where Alex was speaking to a witness in a investigation. He waited patiently for them to finish speaking and was finally able to speak to her as their witness left the room. He told Alex:

"Alex, Suzaku is waiting outside for you. Wants to see if you can tutor him again today?"

She stretched out after such a prolonged time sitting and told him, "Tell Suzaku that I'll be ready in a few minutes, just need to handle something first."

"Alright I'll tell him." he nodded; until he and Alex heard yelling coming from outside, they looked at each other and he exclaimed, "What the hell is going on?"

They exited the interview room and rushed out to see what was going on, only to see both Kallen and Euphemia arguing as it seemed to them both. Alex and Fin walked over to Elliot to see what what going on, but he would point directly at them to find out.

"I should have known what kind of person you really are." Kallen scowled at her, "And I'll be damned if I'm gonna let you get away with it."

"Is that so? I love how naïve you are." she grinned, "Besides, what would you know? Despite how strong you claim to be, it doesn't hide how weak you truly are."

"Don't get all cocky with me. I know what you did to Lelouch, I am sure as hell not going to let you do the same to Suzaku!"

Suddenly, Euphemia got all silent. She put her hands around her back and smiled evilly, "Oh really? Well, if it seems that I can't get through you, perhaps I can make it easy for me and remove the problem once and for all."

Her words confused half of the squad room, but then she pulled her hands from her back and pulled out a gun. Kallen and Suzaku were startled, and the entire squad room immediately went into defense mode, with both the uniformed officers and the detectives taking out their guns in defense.

Euphemia smiled and pointed the gun at Suzaku, something that caught Alex's attention. Elliot, who was also pointing his gun at her, yelled out, "Put down the gun!"

She turned over to him and inquired, "Why should I? You all may think you have me surrounded, but I hope you know that if you try to stop me, he dies."

"You really are full of yourself, are you?"

"Hm? Why not administer your skills without your gun, detective?"

Being a person who doesn't take kindly to cocky people like her or even takes idle suggestions lightly, Elliot put down his gun and was about to charge at her. However, Kallen would surprisingly beat him too it, lunging herself directly at her; Kallen reached under and propelled herself up and grabbed her wrists, pointing the gun to the ceiling. Two shots were fired in the air, as she tackled Euphemia to the ground.

In a desperate fight, Kallen tried frantically to wrestle the gun out of her hands; as strong as she was, she held her wrists with one hand while the other took hold of her neck. She knew that Kallen was too overpowering for her to fend off, but Euphemia sought for a weak spot. She let one of her hand go free from the gun, and used it as her only offensive weapon. With her left hand free, she balled her hand into a fist and punched Kallen in the throat.

She started coughing up, as the punch to her throat caused her to lose her grip, leaving her momentarily off-guard. Euphemia was able to kick her right off, so hard that she propelled her into one of the desks. With Kallen out of the way and incapacitated at the moment, Euphemia pointed the gun back at Suzaku, with the fullest intent of shooting him. Once the gun was pointed back at Suzaku, Alex's eyes widen in terror and bolted over quickly.

She shouted, "No!" as she ran towards him, just as Euphemia fired three shots at him. Right as the shots were fired, both Alex and Suzaku hit the ground. Euphemia let out a smirk as she saw them on the floor, but unfortunately for her, she was suddenly tackled by two uniformed officers and immediately put into handcuffs.

After a while on the ground, Suzaku opened his eyes looking around as he and Alex were still on the ground, he got up and was soon presented by the terrified and shocked looks coming from everyone, including Elliot, Kallen, Munch, Fin and Captain Cragen. Suzaku didn't understand the looks on their faces, but it was not long until felt a large heartbeat in his chest – when he saw blood on his hand and chest.

Scared, he searched around his body to see if he was wounded, but that's when he looked to his left, and suddenly gasped in shock and horror.  _It was Alex_ , her chest being covered in her own blood, and two bullet wounds in her body. Suzaku's eyes widened as large as her's earlier and quickly he shouted:

"Alex? Alex!" he and Elliot quickly tended to her, trying to stop the bleeding. She was still conscious, but her pulse was slowly fading. Tears ran through his eyes, as he frantically called out her name, but she couldn't hear him. He would still shout, "Alex! Wake up! Please Alex, don't die. Please don't die!"

The entire squad room scrambled, as Captain Cragen immediately called the paramedics. As sirens were heard from a distance, Suzaku tried to do all he could, by holding her in his arms and had her in his lap, trying to get her to respond. Alex's eyes were barely open, and could hardly see anything; she was slowly getting pale and her glasses were across the room, with the spectacles splattered in blood. He didn't want it to end like this.

_Not like this._

* * *

**To Be Continued. | End of Chapter Eleven**


	12. Manhunt (Part Two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The opening chapter of Volume Two follows the events after the shooting, the detectives hunt down Euphemia after she escapes custody; meanwhile, Alex fights for her life after getting shot.

_Something was going on, something wasn't right. My vision is blurry, I can't see anything. I can't move, my body feels like it's frozen. I can't hear anything, but I could distinctively hear Suzaku's voice – it sounded like he was in distress. My heart feels like it is about to give out any second, I can hardly breath, I'm worried that I might asphyxiate at any moment. What happened to me? Why do I feel like this? How come I can only hear him sobbing?_

_From the way it sounded, he probably thinks I died. But I'm still here. I'm talking to you, why can't you hear me? I don't know why this is happening, but all I know is, I can also hear my name being called out. Yet, I can't respond to whoever it is. If anyone can hear me, please... please tell me what happened! I only hope that, based on my condition, I don't succumb to this at any given second. Now, I can no longer see anything. But I'm still breathing. For now._

* * *

_**-We now return to the story...-** _

One of the biggest fears for any unit, is to see one of their own get hurt or shot down before their eyes; but for the detectives and officers of Manhattan SVU, this became a reality. But this  _reality_  has happened more often than not – this time was something different. Detective Alexandra Cabot lied cold on the ground after she was shot down in a attempt to save Suzaku Kururugi; she was still alive at the moment, and the detectives tried effortlessly to keep her from dying before the paramedics came.

Suzaku was right by her side, holding her while he and Detective Elliot Stabler tried to keep her from losing any more blood. He was hyperventilating, he was in utter shock, as he watched Alex slowly fade away. But that was something that they hoped to avoid. They grabbed towels, and even used their own jackets to close up the wounds temporarily.

As they tried to keep her awake, Suzaku said with distress, "Alex, you can make it. Just wait a little longer for me, you'll be fine."

Alex was unable to say a word, due to the severity of her injuries. Euphemia however, smiled at the image of the blonde detective dying before their eyes, which she laughed, "I suppose you weren't as invincible as you thought you were, huh detective?"

"Get her out of here!" Cragen yelled, in anger. The two officers picked her and and escorted her to the cell. Meanwhile, the paramedics came just in time as they immediately came to the detective's aid. They surrounded her, causing Elliot to step back – but Suzaku wasn't going anywhere.

One of the paramedics ordered, "Sir, please get out of the way! We need to do our job."

"I can't leave her side," he cried, holding her hand tight, "I don't want her to feel alone."

"Suzaku please," Elliot told him, "Please let them do their job. Trust me, they know what they are doing."

Though his distraught nature at the moment restricted him from leaving, he slowly got up without saying a word, and watched as they rushed her to the hospital. Elliot, Kallen, and Captain Cragen could see how hard this was. And watched as they rushed her out the squad room in a stretcher, with bloody wheel tracks following. Sergeants Munch and Tutuola looked with sorrow, watching their friend and co-worker in such a condition. Fin, Elliot, Cragen, and Suzaku ran to her, following the paramedics.

As for the SVU squad room, they were in a moment of crisis, and sorrow. There was not a single word being uttered in the squad room, not a word nor a peep; the floor was covered almost entirely in blood, and the rest of the detectives and officers tried their best to try and recuperate – especially after what had just happened. Now in the absence of Captain Cragen, Sergeant Munch took things over while he was away, hoping that this doesn't become any more serious as it already is.

 _Meanwhile_ , was instantly being driven to the hospital by paramedics, after she was shot twice in the chest. It wasn't the first time that she was shot, unfortunately. At this point, she had nothing else to fear – but death. Aside from the paramedics, accompanying her was Detective Stabler, Sergeant Tutuola, and Captain Cragen, who were trying to make sure that she was okay and that she was comfortable, if anything.

Suzaku was still with her, but he was unable to see her wounded body. He couldn't bare to see her like this. Among everyone, it seems that he was the most affected. Soon as they arrived as the hospital, the paramedics quickly rushed Alex inside, where they were assisted by doctors and nurses. These people were trained to handle such situations like this, which was why they worked effortlessly to try and keep her alive.

They had to rip open her blouse in order to tend to her bullet wounds, they were fast yet incredibly careful with her, as one mistake may cost Alex her life. However, to the disdain of the doctors and paramedics, things became much worse. One of the machines started make a beeping noise, which only meant one thing –  _Alex had no pulse_. They scrambled to try and revive her, using any method possible to try and restart her heart. Apparently, time was not her friend at the moment. They could only do what they are capable of.

The four were still following them, hearing the tone as well; Elliot yelled out to them, "What's going on? Is she alright?"

"Detective Cabot is slipping into cardiac arrest. We need to perform on her right away!" said one of the doctors.

Suzaku couldn't really say much in the ambulance but stopped and pleaded to them, "Please save her."

"We'll do our best to save her."

They had no other choice but to watch as they carried her inside, in hopes that they could try and bring her back. But there was no guarantee that they could save her. All that they could do is hope for a miracle, but the doctors are hoping for that themselves.  _It has been over four hours,_  as Suzaku, Elliot and Fin waited for someone to come inside to see if they succeeded. The two detectives could see how depressed Suzaku was at that moment, they couldn't imagine what he was feeling right now, and hoped that he wasn't holding it against them or himself.

They tried to say something to him, he wanted to say something to them too. But given the circumstances, it was better if none of them said a word. It's not like they can calm him down. It was 7 pm in the evening, as they continued waiting for someone to try and give them an update, and all they wondered was,  _Were they still working on her? Or have they given up?_  Or worse, _Has_ _she_ _given up?_  That was for them to find out.

One of the surgeons walked out, covered in the detective's blood, and stood in front of them. All three of them got up, looking to hear the news. He did not say anything, but directed them inside. Their hearts started beating fast, hoping that when they see Alex, she won't be under a sheet. Following him for what was three to seven minutes, he directed them inside. Fortunately for them,  _she was alive._ Her heart was beating, she was breathing – barely, but they had to ask.

"Is she okay?" asked Sergeant Tutuola.

"She's okay. For now that is." replied the surgeon, "She is currently on a medical ventilator, or a respirator if you like to call it that. We were able to get her breathing again and her pulse back almost to normal. As far as walking up, we can't determine when she will ever wake up. Probably when her wounds have healed, or upon her own power."

"So what are the chances that she doesn't make it?" Elliot asked him.

"She is currently in stable, but critical condition. We don't fully anticipate her dying, but all we can hope for is that she can make a full recovery."

"What about her wounds?"

"Fortunately, neither of the two bullets hit anything vital. Or in other words, missed her vital organs. The first bullet went through her shoulder, and the other managed to miss her heart. We don't know how, but all we know is that she is incredibly lucky to be alive right now. She needs someone right now. Should I call her next of kin? Like parents, spouse, relatives?"

Elliot explained to him, "Alex's parents are gone. She has no known siblings, she's not married or have any children. As far as other relatives go, we're unsure if she has any available ones for contact."

"Well in that case, we'll monitor her for a while and contact you when there is a change in her condition."

"Thank you." Fin told the surgeon. He and Elliot walked out for a bit and noticed that Suzaku was gone. Guessing by the nature of the situation, he didn't want to see his only current friend in the state that she was. It was way too hard for him to handle. They left the hospital, leaving him there, so they could get back to the squad room.

* * *

_Later that evening_ , the SVU squad room was trying to clean up the mess – both figuratively and literally. Everyone was hoping to hear what happened to her, and as Elliot and Fin returned to the precinct, they could easily tell how somber things were that evening. Aside from the men and women in uniform at the hospital that came for her, others waited at the squad room, hoping that the detective is currently okay. Seemed that the squad room was the most heart stricken.

The floor was no longer entirely covered in her blood, yet you could still see some wipe marks. They tried to clean it up, which explained why the squad smelled odd. As mentioned earlier, Munch remained there up until Cragen returned, which of course he did. He would rather be back at work, than to see one of his own die. He saw the two detectives returning from his office, so he walked out and greeted his detectives:

"Hey Fin, Elliot? What's the news on Detective Cabot?"

"She's doing alright. But they basically told us that she is still in critical condition." Fin explained, "There's no telling when she'll wake up."

"So she's fine?"

"Um. Not  _that_  fine, captain." Elliot chimed in, "Her wounds are serious, but she's breathing. However, she's also unresponsive. We're just waiting to see what else happens."

Seeing how it was only the two detectives that returned, Cragen had to ask them, "Detectives, where is Suzaku? Is he still at the hospital?"

"Well the thing about that, captain." Elliot tried to explain, however he gave up and truthfully said, "We don't know where he is."

"So you two lost track of him?"

"Maybe he didn't want to be there." Fin assumed, "He seemed so distraught when I last looked at him. Perhaps he didn't want to see her like that."

"Seems as though he might be taking it the hardest."

"Alex meant a lot to him, captain. She was practically a mother to him."

"Is that so?" Cragen inquired; unbeknownst to his detectives, he might be the only person who fully understands their friendship, "Well in that case, I think it is safe to assure that their relationship was, in no way, inappropriate."

"What made you assume that their friendship was in any way inappropriate?" asked the sergeant, in which he turned over and looked at Elliot. He didn't know what he was trying to imply, but his best bet was to deny – even if he didn't say anything.

"I'm not sure what talking about. I've never said anything like that." He told both Fin and their captain, "Anyways, where's Euphemia? I want to have a little talk with her."

"Just as long as you don't injure her. Barba already has a tight case against her, don't ruin it." Cragen told him; he turned over to Sergeant Munch and yelled out, "Munch! Transfer the prisoner into interrogation. Bring one of the officers with you."

"Yes captain." Munch replied, leaving his desk and went to the jail cells. He turned around, back at the two detectives and asked them.

"Now, if and when Barba or the defense calls you two in as witnesses, please go over it with me so we all know we saw the same thing."

"Yeah, because we know that any defense attorney would bend and twist the truth." Elliot said, "Even if there were like a hundred witnesses."

Suddenly, Munch returned with a amount of urgency. Whatever it may be, it might not be good. He walked over them and exclaimed, "Captain, we have a huge problem."

Elliot, Fin and Captain Cragen looked at him with concern, there believed that there was no way that anything could go wrong.  _But when they went to the cell_ , they were in disbelief of what they had come across. They stared at a jail cell that accompanied the prisoner Euphemia, just one thing –  _she wasn't there._  All that was left was an empty, open jail cell and a wounded officer who was guarding her.

The veteran uniformed officer was lying on the ground, bloodied as he was stabbed multiple times. Fortunately, he was still alive but it didn't help the fact that Euphemia was gone, and his keys were missing as well. They went and called for the paramedics – again, to try and avoid another tragedy like earlier that day.

Elliot went on one knee, and asked him, "What happened here, officer?"

"I don't know." said the weak and wounded officer, "All I remember was she called me over, and then she pulled out a small knife. She just kept stabbing me, until she grew bored so she stole the keys and escaped."

"When was this?" Cragen asked him.

"Nearly two hours ago."

 _And with just a simple turn, things have spiraled out of control._  It was nearly  _9 pm_  that evening and news of this has already reached  _One Police Plaza_ , who not only heard of the incidents involving both the police officer and Detective Cabot, but also heard that the perpetrator had evaded the entire precinct and escaped. This was urgent because given her nature, she could be a danger to the citizens of New York. Hopefully, they could minimize the count to only two.

It did not take very long for the brass to show up in the SVU squad room, and consistently bust the chops of both the detectives and Captain Cragen. But much to their chagrin, the  _Chief of Detectives_  came to deal with this. Judging from his appearance, this was not going to end well.

He looked around the place and asked Captain Cragen, "Could you explain how your squad managed to let someone who injured two officers escape?"

"I don't know how she managed to get past my people, but what I can tell you is that our number one goal is to capture her."

"Before we do that. Explain to me? Where was Detective Stabler and Sergeant Tutuola?"

"They were at the hospital, awaiting the news on the condition of Detective Alexandra Cabot."

"And where was Sergeant Munch?" he asked him, "Is it my attention that you left him here to supervise the squad, during your absence?"

"Yes, I was in charge. But neither I or anyone else here, heard or saw anything suspicions." Munch told him.

"Then why is she gone?"

"Are we really getting into this? We have to find her right now!"

"Don't worry about that for now. All you people need to know is, you let this woman escape and possibly endangered the public.  _You_  people are now responsible in her escape and will see to it that she is captured. Or else, I will see to it that you all lose your shields."

"Instead of threatening us and my squad," Cragen yelled out, "Perhaps you should take a moment to realize that we acknowledge that she is dangerous, which makes this all the more urgent. We need to find her right now. If the people at One PP are really concerned about the people, then go out to the media and warn them. As for capturing her, that is our job. I may be out of line, but we are wasting valuable time standing her and talking while a potential killer is still out there."

"Fine, captain. We'll warn them, but you must find her before there are any other victims."

He left with nothing else to say, but as for Captain Cragen and his detectives, they may have been annoyed and frustrated, but time was too valuable to waste. They managed to keep calm as Cragen ordered, "Fin, Elliot? Go back to the hospital and keep an eye on Alex. Meanwhile, Munch will lead the search for Euphemia."

"Understood, captain." Munch replied, then told him, "By the way, what about Kallen?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The red headed girl. Suzaku's ex-girlfriend. She's still here and apparently, she hasn't been taking this very well either."

Cragen sighed and told them, "I'll watch her, but you need to operate fast."

The three scrambled out, with two of them going back to the hospital while the other went to find Euphemia. Meanwhile, as for Captain Cragen, he had the unsatisfactory pleasure of looking after Kallen, who was, for some reason, still in the precinct. Just like Suzaku, she couldn't get the image out of her head.

Kallen was sitting down on one of the couches, in the room just nearby his office. He walked in and she showed a level of interest when he walked in. Knowing how she witnessed a detective get shot, he'd rather handle it as gingerly as possible. Cragen didn't sit down like her but stood up, looking down at the red headed girl.

"So? How are you feeling right now?"

"You wanna know how I'm feeling? I'll tell you how I'm feeling." Kallen told him, with rage in her voice. To his surprise, she got up and suddenly slapped him. She would yell out, "What the hell kind of captain are you? How could you let this happen?! That girl is still out there and you're trying to cover it up as nothing."

"That is not our intention." He told her.

"Then explain! Why isn't she behind bars, where she deserves? Instead she's out there laughing her ass off because you jerks won't do you job right! Now give me a reason to stop busting your chops? Tell me something that I can believe instead of just gingerly bullsh-"

"Now you listen here!" Cragen yelled out, immediately cutting off her sentence. He was in no way amused. "Now I may have to deal with that feeble minded crap from that blowhard, but don't think for one second that you can work up the balls to criticize my unit, and how we operate. We do a fine job here, something that you may never understand."

"But wait-" Kallen replied, but he interrupted her and continued.

"I don't want to hear it! Rather than blame me or my squad for letting her go, let me remind you that there is a detective that fighting for her life because she stepped in and save your boyfriend. Or should I say  _ex-boyfriend_. Now think a little more about her, instead of thinking of yourself and passing the buck on this squad. And that is how I feel, young lady."

She was left speechless, it seemed that he got her to the point where she was left in tears. Clearly, Kallen was upset in some other way. Having to see a person risk their life like that was something she was not accustomed too. If anything, the very image of Alex wounded and near death, was an image she was unable to get out of her head. Though she was distraught, she was also angered and frustrated, which she recently took out on their captain.

Now even more upset, Kallen sat back down on the couch, trying to hold back tears. In her mind, she tried very hard to keep herself strong but now wasn't the time. Cragen looked down at the red head, simmering down after his rant. Seeing how much pain she was in, indicated that he may have been too out of line. He didn't always yell at civilians, the only people he has ever raised his voice at was his detectives. This whole situation was already taking its toll.

Cragen sat down on the table, in front of her, trying to comfort her. He realized that he may have gone too far, so he asked her, "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not." she nodded, with tears in her eyes.

"Look, I sincerely apologize for my words. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you. But realize that this squad is trying to deal with this the best way we can. The least we can do is help you through it."

"I'm not upset about what you said." Kallen told him, "It's just-"

She couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence, yet Cragen knew why she was upset. He asked her with concern, "Young lady, tell me why you're upset? Do you blame yourself for what happened? Talk to me."

"I just feel like this is all my fault." she said.

"Explain to me why?"

Kallen sighed and explained, "I tried so hard... to take that gun out of her hand. But I failed. I failed and now, someone is possibly about to die because of it."

"I'm sorry you feel this way, but remember this." Cragen told her, "You risked your life to try and save him. Many people wouldn't ever do such a thing, but you stepped up and tried to stop her the best way you could. Even though you didn't succeed nor were you able to prevent Detective Cabot from risking  _her_  life, the act itself was incredibly brave."

"I understand. Thanks, cap-" Kallen said, but was suddenly cut off when she felt queasy. Cragen didn't know what was going on, but judging from her expression, she felt like she was going to vomit. She tried her best to finish her sentence, "Oh god. I-I want too... Oh god."

Cragen immediately picked up a nearby waste bucket and gave it to her. Just in time of course, as she began vomiting out something. He didn't know what was wrong, but could only watch as she continued to get it all out. She was breathing heavily, and was hyperventilating; he believed that she was incredibly sick.

After a several something minutes, Cragen walked out. Soon after, he was approached by Sergeant Munch, who looked to give him an update. Noticing how he was in a rush, Munch asked, "Where are you going, captain?"

"I need to pick up a few things. But in the meantime, I need you to check up on her periodically while I'm gone."

"Sure thing, but don't you want to hear what's going on first?"

"It will have to wait a little while. I'll be right back."

* * *

_**-Meanwhile-** _

_Back at the hospital_ , Suzaku was previously sitting alone, trying to process the last several hours. He didn't want to speak to the detectives about what happened, because it would only remind him of the fact that he is still alive – at Alex's expense. He left with Fin and Elliot without notice, and since then, he has wandered around the hospital aimlessly and depressed. He has never felt this way before. His mind was all mixed up and scattered.

His current behavior caught the concern of some of the doctors and employees, wondering if he is either lost, or creeping around. He was unaware of the fact that Alex is still alive, and the two detectives were back in the hospital. He kept asking himself very random questions – clearly he didn't have his head on correctly. Nurses and doctors kept asking him where he was going, but walked past them without a response. This drew concern around the hospital, as one nurse asked a guard to watch him.

Over the past hour, they assumed that he was a mental patient that walked out, but that wasn't the case, judging by the way he was dressed. After finally deciding to stop walking around the place like a creeper, he searched around for an office. Fortunately for him, he knew just one person in the entire hospital that he could talk too. He just hoped that he wasn't too late.

He walked over to one of the offices, and saw a woman preparing to leave. He knew that woman anywhere –  _she was Lelouch's mother, Marianne._  He opened the door, slowly just to see what she was doing. He spoke out to her, "Lady Marianne?"

She turned around and saw Suzaku standing in front of the door. Thought she was ready to leave, Marianne walked over to him and happily greeted, "Suzaku Kururugi, oh I'm so happy to see you!"

She happily gave him a hug, which he could hardly return. Marianne looked at him and saw nothing but sorrow in his eyes, she knew that something was wrong. And how couldn't she figure it out, she's raised him for the past nine years.

Marianne brushed away his hair and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

He sighed deeply, walking past her and sat down. Things were difficult for him to explain, so he told her straight-forward, "Lady Marianne, things so far haven't been so great. In fact, it has been horrible."

"Hm. I understand." Marianne nodded, "Things have been pretty crazy recently. Not long ago, a detective was brought in here after she was shot twice and from what I hear she is in critical condition."

"Yeah, I already know. Trust me."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Suzaku raised his head up and told her, "Her name is Alexandra Cabot. She was my friend. She risked her own life to save mine."

She gasped in shock and expressed her condolences, "Oh my god. I'm so sorry for you, Suzaku. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I just don't know where to go."

"Was she really that important to you?" she inquired.

"Yes she was. In some ways, she was more like a mother figure to me."

"Oh was she?"

He looked up at Marianne and told her, "I'm saying that I don't appreciate what you've done for me, it's just-"

"No need to explain yourself, Suzaku." Marianne interrupted, "I understand that no matter how hard I try, to you I'm still Lelouch's mother. I suppose that's fair, you never knew your mother and I tried to give you what you didn't have. I'm not saying I'm insulted, I saying that you deserve a person whom you can also look up too."

"I suppose you're right."

"Besides, I'm assuming that she is a good influence on you. I only did so much. But what I don't understand is, why are you here instead of being by her side?"

"I don't know." he sighed.

"Don't give me that. I've watched you since you were nine. If she means so much to you, why won't you be there for her?"

"It's difficult. I just don't know what to tell her."

Marianne walked over to Suzaku, pressing him against her chest. She whispered to him, "I know you feel so conflicted. I can only say that you shouldn't be afraid. The fact that you're alive, is probably all that is important to her. Don't you agree?"

"I understand, Lady Marianne."

"You've never changed one bit. I suppose that alright." she smiled, "Now go and be there for her."

Suzaku spared no time and exited her office. He knew there was a reason why he came to her whenever he was down. Marianne watched as he went back to find her, she was proud of him to say the least. He searched all around the hospital this time, looking for where she was staying. Since he didn't stick around, the search would be difficult.

* * *

_The following day_ , the search for Euphemia proved to be a tough task. The search team, led by Sergeant Munch, has looked effortlessly for her but the search has escalated well into the next evening, and have received no success nor results so far. Hours have gone by, sleep has been substituted with coffee and it was clear that the detectives and the officers are completely worn down. As for the officer that was wounded while guarding her, he was doing alright.

But regardless of how he was feeling, they still needed to find her without another person getting hurt. Cragen stopped by and checked on his people, and he was appalled by how tired and run down they were – it was already taking a toll on them. Now it has been more than 24 hours since her escape and they have officially run out of options, so in an attempt to aid themselves, they called in an extra set of hands to help with the search.

ADA Rafael Barba walked with Captain Cragen, as he explained the situation to him, leaving out no details. Barba asked Captain Cragen, "So you people can't find her so now you call on your ADA to help search for her? Seems pretty desperate, captain."

"We know, counselor. But my men and women are tired and we need an extra pair of hands to help." Cragen replied.

"I'm not sure how I can help you, captain. What about Stabler and Tutuola?"

"They are still at the hospital, monitoring and guarding Detective Cabot. So far, it has been just us."

"And how has that worked well for you?"

Cragen stopped walking and told their ADA, "Look, I know it sounds desperate turning to you for help. But help us help you, because you're gonna be the one who will handle this case. All we're asking for is a little help, that is all we need from you, counselor."

"I suppose you may have a point. Sure, I'll try and help you guys."

"That's all I can ask for." Cragen nodded, then turned over to Munch for an update, "Anything good, Munch?"

Munch got up and explained the details, "We're tracking her cell phone, bank accounts, anything that may be linked to her. However, we recently found that she made an transaction on an ATM somewhere just outside of Midtown."

"How long since the transaction?" Barba asked the sergeant.

"Unfortunately, more than an three hours ago so she must be long gone."

"So where do we go from here? Do we keep going back and fourth or go back to square one?" Cragen asked them.

"Captain, I don't think we should start over. We can find her, but hopefully within the next hour."

"Well no matter how we do it, we should gather a trail over the last 24 hours. If that will help."

"Maybe you should canvas the area where Euphemia used that ATM." Barba suggested, "Perhaps then you'll be able to find her."

Then he heard the phone ringing nearby. He looked at them both, wondering if either one was going to pick it up, but Barba walked over instead. As for Munch and Cragen, they continued to mull over their next available plan.

"Now it is possible that she may be searching for Alex or Suzaku?" Munch inquired.

"It is possible, that is why we have patrol at Mercy waiting to see if she makes an appearance, but she probably wouldn't waste her time."

As they thought out their next move, a shine of light beamed down on them finally as Barba returned with some important news. He walked over to them and told them, "We got a tip. I just got off the phone, patrol got a tip of a suspicious woman with pink hair just five blocks away from a nearby bodega."

This news immediately turned the landscape over in their favor. As he told them the address, Cragen rushed out the squad room, telling them, "Okay. Munch, you tell patrol to tail her. Make sure they give out updates on her. I'm gonna go to the hospital and tell Elliot and Fin."

There was absolutely no time to waste as this may mark the end of the search. With Captain Cragen gone once again, they were left to handle things; and all they could hope for was that this opportunity does not turn around on them. That's the last thing they need after 24 restless hours.

 _Meanwhile, at the hospital_ , Elliot and Fin stayed with Alex for almost an entire day. Though they weren't as tired as their colleagues back at the office, they maintained a high level of concern as to when she may possibly wake up. But it wasn't like it was going to be easy; given the nature of her injury, there was no telling when she'll ever open her eyes. Maybe now, or possibly never. They were given direct orders from their captain to guard her, if or when Euphemia decides to pay her a visit.

They took shifts all throughout this period, rotating between Elliot resting whist Fin kept watch, and so fourth. They have never had to guard anyone continuously for as long as they have, but for now, they did not wish to take any chances. This time, Fin was watching her while Elliot was away – he left to fetch them both some food, since they haven't ate much since they've returned. As he waited for Elliot to return, Fin looked up at the clock and watched it tick.

As for Suzaku, he returned to the hospital after he decided to go home and work up some courage to go and see Alex. He needed time to relax and assure that he keeps his sanity intact; but now he had the courage to go back and confront her for the first time. One of the nurses led him to her room, leaving him on his own. Suzaku looked down, not even looked in the window; something was preventing him from walking any further.

He turned his head to the wall, to try and process his thoughts. This was coincidentally about the same time Elliot returned, with some food for him and Fin. He walked in, noticing how Fin was watching the clock; he looked up at the wall, and back at his current partner. In an attempt to catch his attention, Elliot said to him:

"Hey, Fin? What are you doing?"

"Just looking at the time, I guess." he replied.

He thought that was weird of him to say, but Elliot shrugged and gave him some food. Sitting back down just nearby Alex's hospital bed, he asked him, "So how is Alex doing? Any better?"

"No changes as of yet."

Elliot stared at a barely breathing Alex and sighed, "I'm starting to worry that she will never recover from this."

"Elliot! Don't say things like that!"

"But what if she doesn't!? She's been through this before, and was lucky to survive. But now, I don't know. It may sound terrible of me, but who knows what might happen. But I suppose we should have more faith in her. Alex would want that from us."

"I guess you're right, El."

Elliot nodded in agreement, and asked him again, "So? Where is Suzaku? You seen him anywhere?"

Fin looked over him and noticed Suzaku peeking through the window; this would answer his question, "He's right there, in the window." He pointed at Suzaku, in which Elliot turned around and saw just a glance of him; but he pulled away and started to walk off. Elliot got out of the chair and rushed out into the hallway, trying to catch him.

Elliot managed to catch him just in time, yelling out, "Hey! Wait a minute!"

Quickly, Suzaku stopped walking and turned around, facing Elliot. He had nothing to say to the detective, he didn't want to say anything to him. But walked closer to him and asked, "Yes, detective?"

"Why are you running away?" Elliot asked.

He looked down and answered, "I don't know, detective."

"Hey, hey!" he shouted out, causing Suzaku to raise his head back up, "Talk to me. I need to know what is wrong with you. Now what are you running from?"

He looked at the room window, and back at Elliot, telling him, "I can't... I can't see her like this. The image of her nearly dying is glued in my head, and whenever I look at her, I see someone who tried to sacrifice their life, for my sake. I don't know why she would do something like that, but what I know is, I feel as if this is all my fault."

Elliot was not interested in Suzaku's self-loathing. Nobody should blame themselves like he is right now; which was why Elliot placed a hand on his shoulder and explained to him, "Now listen here, I don't want to hear some lame ass crap about how this is all your fault. I'm aware that she meant a lot, but do you really think she would want you to blame yourself for what happened?"

"I don't think so."

"Exactly. She wouldn't want that." Elliot said, "Now, I don't understand why she would be friends with someone like you. I don't think I'll ever understand your friendship. But allow me to clarify something with you: I've known her longer than you ever will, she is someone who has dealt with me and my ex-partner's crap for years. It was not until she started working with us as a detective, was when I realized how brave she really is. I wished I realized that sooner."

"I understand." he nodded.

"I'm not finished. Now as far as saving another person's life, she would do it a thousand times. But for you, she'd do it a thousand more." Elliot told him, "I know Cabot. If she had the chance to save you, even if it meant she'd be putting  _her_  life in danger, she would definitely do it. And more importantly, she would ask for nothing but your gratitude. But now, all she needs right now, is you."

His words were sincere and directly accurate. Suzaku understood what he meant and realized what was really important right now. She needed her friend more than anyone – and Suzaku was willing to set all his fears aside to be with her. Meanwhile, they were caught by surprise when Captain Cragen arrived suddenly at the hospital.

"Detective Stabler, we have some news." he told him.

Elliot turned around and asked his captain, "What's the matter, captain?"

Hearing their captain's name, Fin walked out the room and chimed in, "Captain, what are you doing here?"

"That's not important. We got a tip from patrol, they spotted Euphemia and she is only blocks away from a nearby bodega." Cragen revealed to the detectives, "We'll be joining Sergeant Munch, as patrol is tailing her giving us periodic updates."

"Understood, captain." Fin nodded in agreement. As he prepared to get out there, Elliot stopped them and asked:

"Wait? What about Alex? Aren't we supposed to watch her?"

Suddenly, this brought conflict. However, Cragen looked over Elliot's shoulder and saw Suzaku standing by. He would answer the detective, "How about him over there?"

Fin and Elliot turned around and looked at Suzaku, who said in disbelief, "What? Me? Aren't they more suited to watch her?"

"I need my detectives, young man. Besides, she could probably need your company right about now. Now come on, you two."

Fin and Elliot did not wish to go against their captain's wishes, so they headed off. Elliot looked back at Suzaku, as he was concerned that he may not go through with it. Fin also carried an amount of concern regarding Suzaku but was also concerned with capturing Euphemia. Now that he is all alone, he stood right by the window, this time hoping to work up the courage to walk inside.  _But who knows how long that may take_.

 _Not much time passed_ , as they rode with Captain Cragen, he gave them the full details that he chose not reveal in front of Suzaku. Sergeant Munch was already there, as well as backup. Although Euphemia wasn't exactly at the bodega, she was in the vicinity. Munch informed them of an ambush, if or when she enters the shop. They were specialists when it came to operations like this, and hopefully, this would not blow up in their faces.

Patrol officers continued to trail her, using a plain looking vehicle. She did not notice a thing as she calmly entered the shop. They saw her walk in as Cragen, Elliot and Fin were just outside and out of her sight. She carried a smile on her face, quite full of herself. Now there was no telling why she would walk into one of these places, but only she knew what she wanted from that place. And the detectives and the rest of the police officers outside would find out.

Euphemia hummed a peaceful tune to herself as she searched around, looking for supplies. The first thing she grabbed, was a roll of duct tape. Then she would pick up a rope, then a few utensils – none of which were knives. She grabbed an array of different tools, which started to concern the shopkeeper that was sitting by the desk. He (and the cops) watched Euphemia read the label on a bottle of sleeping supplements, and included it with the other suspicions items.

Munch tried make sure that she wouldn't notice him. He would give out a signal to the detectives outside, while Euphemia placed all the items on the counter. The shopkeeper looked at her in distress, not because of the items she had picked out, but by her demeanor. That was all the more reasons to panic. The way she smiled at him, the way she looked into his eyes, she could sense that he was uncomfortable, giving her the opportunity to manipulate him.

She asked the shopkeeper with a straight face, "How much do I owe you?"

He had some chills, he did not want to sell these items to her. In an attempt to get her out of there, he told her, "I reserve my right to refuse service. Now if you'll please leave my store..."

"Do you really wish not to serve me?" she inquired, lifting up her shirt, she revealed a knife. Now he knew that he was in danger. Euphemia smiled at him and said, "I guess we're in agreement then."

That is where Munch unveiled himself and called out, "Excuse me? Euphemia?"

Things suddenly turned around, as Munch would smile at her while she would looked back at him in distress. Instinctively, she bolted out the bodega – however, they were anticipating that. Instantly, she was confronted by Detective Stabler, Sergeant Tutuola and Captain Cragen. Elliot, however, being the only one holding his gun. She looked around, now with no where to run as officers surrounded her, all holding guns. Clearly, she couldn't fight them all.

"Where did you go, Euphemia? We've been searching for you." Munch remarked; but she would take a chance against the three, running towards in an attempt to run right through them. But Fin stopped her, tackling her to the ground.

She struggled to try and break free from Fin, whom was handcuffing her as Elliot chanted out, "You're under arrest for the attempted murders of Officer Shawn Graham and Detective Alexandra Cabot..."

While Fin lifted her off the ground, carrying her out, Elliot continued to read her Miranda rights, "...You have the right to remain silent, anything you say will be used against you in the court of law. If you cannot afford an attorney, one may be appointed to you."

"Do you understand these rights?" Cragen finished.

"Don't worry. I'll be out soon." she grinned. Even despite the fact she was apprehended, she was still incredibly cocky.

* * *

_As the detectives captured Euphemia, back at the hospital_ , Suzaku took a while to work up the courage to walk inside Alex's hospital room, but managed to walk in after taking his good time. He was afraid more than anything, as he was all alone with her. He watched her from afar, realizing that she is still breathing. He watched her pulse, which was fine. There was no reason whatsoever for him not to walk over and greet his friend, she was right there but couldn't think of anything to say.

Suzaku tried to build up his composure, ease the feeling inside his head and try his best to calm himself down. Anxiety was one of the key factors, afraid that he might do something wrong or worse, she would die in his hands. He closed his eyes, tried to convince himself that there was nothing to fear, that everything would be okay, and pretend that she is sleeping. Suzaku opened his eyes, noticing that he's inched a bit closer to her bed.

He walked slowly, but closer to her bed. He took it one foot at a time, and focused on his feet going forward instead of him getting close to Alex. He raised his head back up, and  _there he was, right beside her._  He watched her as she was breathing through a respirator, he saw how still and possibly cold she was. He tried to hold his tears, and just tried to keep himself calm. Suzaku felt like touching her, to see what her temperature was. Who knows if that would mean anything?

He pulled up a chair next to her and sat down. For about a few minutes or so, he just stared at her. But he would reach over and touch her hand, as he said, "Alex, can you hear me? Please let me know if you can, because I want you to hear this."

Alex showed no sign whatsoever, but nevertheless, he told her, "Alex? I know I'm a little late being here and I hope that you could forgive me. I don't know what else to tell you; I don't know where to begin, but I want you to know this: You mean the world to me, you care more about me than anyone else has. It was not until I met you was when I figured out that my life can easily fall apart. I've had it rough recently, and you've carried me through it. I don't know if you can hear me, but I hope you hear this."

Suzaku then grabbed her hand, and inched closer to her ear, "You're my best friend. Perhaps the only friend I have right now. And all I want to tell you, is that... that I thank you for saving my life. I don't know if you were obligated to or that you really wanted too but, I'm incredibly grateful to have such a great friend like you. I hope you understand that."

Then tears started to raining down his face, as he whispered in her ear, "I love you, Alexandra."

He would proceed to brush away the hair from her ear and apply a kiss above her right ear, the same thing she did not long ago.  _He remembered it, even in his sleep_. Suzaku placed his head next to hers and started crying; and from that moment, it was clear that he was grateful to have a friend like Alex. His last words, sincere as they were, were not romantically powered, but were merely a sign of appreciation and respect for her. Nothing more or less.

Suzaku freed one of his hands and used it to pin their heads together against his forehead, still sobbing. Then he felt a light squeeze, he looked down and was in shock.  _Her hand was squeezing his – she is awake._

* * *

**End of Chapter Twelve**


	13. Indictment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the detectives find and arrest Euphemia, Barba aims to convict her for attempted murder, but problems wound up ensuing.

_We are not invincible. We will not live forever. We are not superheroes. We are not greater than life itself. We are human. We are vulnerable. We are capable of being damaged. We are either strong or weak, but we are never cowards. We are all the same – born the same, live the same, we just do things differently than others. We are... individual people._

Things were suddenly turning around before their eyes. Days have passed by since the shooting, and each day has been tough for everyone. It is hard to describe the emotion over these last few days, it is hard to guide your emotions in the way you like, especially in somber moments. In these past few days, the SVU squad worked effortlessly, sacrificing sleep, time with loved ones, and probably even efficiency, to find and capture Euphemia.

Meanwhile, Suzaku turned into a mess after what happened. That simple gesture that Alex did for his sake, made him all the more depressed. Again, it has been an absolute mess for everyone. Now if you put them in a room and watched them pander on about who's more depressed in this situation, it wouldn't solve anything. Still regardless of how they felt, it was them against Euphemia. Although they caught her, it meant nothing yet. The legal system must do its job.

_Moving on_ , at the hospital, Suzaku was alone with a unresponsive Alex. In the time he has spent with her, he has held her hand tight, he whispered things in her ear and even gave her a kiss on the top of her ear, just the way she does it. He has never cried for anyone – or anything before, that was indication that she had that much of an influence in his life. As his head was pinned against hers, he started shedding tears for her, hoping that Alex gave him just one indication that she could hear him.

_Until she lightly squeezed his hand._

Suzaku was startled; he didn't know if he made it move or that he was losing his mind. But to his surprise, that light movement was a sign – one that told him,  _'I'm still alive'_. Shocked, he whispered her name in response, trying to see if she was awake all this time. He thought his mind was playing tricks with him, on the account that he had lacked sleep during this time-span. He got up, tears still in his eyes, and watched to see what she would do next.

_And that's when he saw it_. Suzaku watched as Alex's eyes slowly opened. It was all too surreal. He started to notice how she squeezed his hand a little more tighter – that only assured him that she was now responsive. He inched closer to the blonde detective, looking to make sure that she could see him. Suzaku returned to his original position, and watched as her head shifted over to him.

Holding her hand with both of his, he said quietly to her, "Alex? Are you... awake?"

"Suzaku..." Alex murmured, her voice was still weak as was the rest of her and she could barely see, "Is that you? I can hardly see anything."

He squeezed her hand tighter, to assure that he was there. That moment, he started tearing up as he replied, "Yes, I'm here. No need to worry."

To his surprise, Alex raised her hand and placed it gently on his face, and wiped away the tears. She told him, "Please don't cry. I can't bare to see even a tear run down your face."

"Yes, I understand." he nodded. But there was something that he wanted to tell her, "Alex, I want you to know how grateful I am that you're still alive, and that I'm able to finally be with you again."

"Thank you so very much, I appreciate your gratitude." she groaned.

He sighed and looked down, and told her, "Alex, I apologize for everything. I realized that you're the most important person to me right now. Still, I'm sorry for putting you, and your co-workers through hell, dragging you all in the middle of my problems. You didn't have to sacrifice yourself. If anything, it should have been me instead of you."

Alex let out a small smile, and replied, "I don't care. I don't hold it against you, and neither does my squad – and neither should you. I want you to be safe, and I want you to remember that I'd do anything to keep you safe, no matter what."

He also smiled back at her, and leaned down and gave her a hug. Everything else didn't seem to matter anymore – everything that has happened prior to that point was meaningless, but as long as Alex was alive and well, Suzaku couldn't care less about anything.  _His new best friend is still alive._

* * *

_Back at the SVU squad room_ , the detectives were still mulling over what they expected to do with Euphemia, who is back in custody after escaping. They needed to work up a game plan before they handed over any present evidence to Barba, who is eager to take the pink haired girl to court. Despite the disaster that they had to endure after she evaded custody, he did not show much concern, but saw this as a way to bring justice to two police officers.

Meanwhile, as they other detectives worked on their "game plan", Sergeant Tutuola sat in the interrogation room with Euphemia, while Barba and Captain Cragen watched from the other side. Instinctively, they were worried about the idea of Fin sitting alone with this dangerous young woman, but unlike them, he showed no sign of fear and could potentially see right through her. Cragen admired his fearless demeanor at this time, despite how weary he was himself.

As they two sat alone, they were secretly analyzing one another. They sat with no communication during the time he spent inside, that is until Euphemia broke the silence and said, "So, do you have the slightest intention of talking, or should I?"

Euphemia was handcuffed to the table, as a precaution. Obviously, they wanted to avoid another incident like before. Fin leaned into his chair and inquired, "You seem quite full of yourself, even though you've just been caught."

"I'm not the slightest bit concerned. If you ask me, it seems you people are full of yourselves."

"Do you understand your rights?"

"I believe I do." she nodded, "But why are we here? Clearly, you're not here to have small talk. Do you expect me to give you a confession?"

"If you are so inclined to do so."

She chuckled at his response and told him, "Well, even  _if_  I give you a confession, the moment my lawyers hear of it, it will be thrown out like garbage."

"I don't see why you can sit there and smirk, knowing that you're facing life in prison. But aside from all that, tell me this: Do you know why you're here?"

"Not necessarily." she shrugged, "But enough about me. Let's take about you, detective. Do you have any children?"

"That's none of your business."

"Come on, Detective Tutuola. Don't be modest with me. I can see it. Beneath your cold and threatening demeanor, you have a soft spot. I know you do." she told him, leaning down to expose some of her cleavage, "In my opinion, every man has some kind of weakness. However, it doesn't seem that you have any."

"Any reason why you pulled down your blouse?"

Euphemia turned her head to the side and told the sergeant, "No exact reason. I just wanted to see how you would react."

Although he did not like her at that moment, Fin nodded then remarked, "You seem very charismatic. I hope you know that."

She leaned over to Fin and moaned, "You'd be surprised how I can bring a man down to his knees."

And then, the door opened. Entering the room was Captain Cragen, who told his detective, "Fin, I need a word with you."

He did not say a word, to either but instead got up and walked out. Euphemia smiled at the detective, and greeted, "Farewell, Detective Tutuola."

"Is there a problem, captain?" Fin asked him, who didn't respond. Instead, he was directed back into the office as they went over their next move. Joining them was Detective Stabler and Sergeant Munch, who were talking with fellow officers and detectives over what they saw and prepared enough evidence for their ADA.

"Alright now where are we in this case?"

"We gathered over fourteen witnesses, including ourselves, who saw her shoot Alex." Elliot told their ADA, "However, we're unclear on either of their statuses."

"And yet, you collared her for attempted murder?"

"Is there a problem with that, counselor?" Munch inquired.

Barba shook his head and replied, "Not necessarily. So far, the status on Officer Graham is stable, so we can charge her for his attempted murder. But as for Detective Cabot, that is a different story."

"You got one count so far, what's the problem?"

"The defense will possibly argue that the officer is either suicidal, or got into a altercation with another officer whist guarding Euphemia. But our only saving grace for this charge, is that we found the knife. But as far as Cabot goes, I'd have to make a convincing argument in order to add the charge."

"Seems like a hassle." Elliot said, "Why not wait and see what happens with her condition?"

"That sounds possible, but based on her condition, it could take weeks or months for a change in her condition."

However, Captain Cragen walked back out, after answering a phone call from his office. None of them had any idea that he had left, nor did he give any indication that he was gonna leave, that is until after returned and chimed in, "Fortunately, we don't need to wait. I got a call from the hospital – Alex is awake."

The four of them were shocked to hear those words. They believed it was some type of joke, but by the his expression, he was nothing but serious. Either way, this news changed everything. All of them rushed out the squad room and headed straight to the hospital, to confirm that she is actually awake and alive.

* * *

_Everything seemed so strange. Currently, I was having a tough time trying to remember what had happened; my memory continuously faded in and out, I honestly don't know where I was. It was 4 pm according to the clock, the same wall clock I've been watching all day. I started to wonder, why is my vision so blurry and my memory so short? It was not possible that two bullets in the chest can affect your mental state. But perhaps I might be wrong. Or right._

All throughout the day since she woke up, Alex has been dealing with some unusual effects since. For the last five hours she sat in her hospital bed awake, she has experienced short-term memory loss, blurred vision, slurred speech and a noticeably numb feeling all across her body, which had made her incapable of moving her body. The only possible explanation to these effects, were either by her injuries, or the doctors had to medicate her to keep her stable.

But even though she couldn't move as much, this didn't effect her emotions. Alex was all alone in that hospital room, glancing at the door and watching the door for someone to perhaps pay her a visit and spend a little time with her – but no one, other than SVU, knows that she here. Aside from the nurses that regularly checked up on her, the only other person she has seen by her bedside was Suzaku, who had left her in order to go to school. The last thing he wanted was to leave her alone.

As the effects of (what was most likely) the morphine started to wear down on her, the pain slightly began to kick back in. Fortunately, it was a lot more bearable than when she was unconscious; which was excruciating for her, even though she was not responsive at the time. But another upside to it was that she was finally able to move more efficiently than before, such as moving her arms, legs and practically the rest of her body.

With the feeling that Suzaku was not coming back soon, Alex turned her head to the other side and tried to get some rest. But then, he heard the door open so she turned her head back; initially thinking it was the nurses, to her surprise, it was actually Elliot, Munch, Fin and Captain Cragen paying her a visit. She was so happy to see them again.

Alex smiled at the detectives with a sign of grace and said, "Hey, guys. You came after all."

They exchanged smiles with her as Munch and Fin walked over to her, with Fin greeting her, "Alex, we're so happy that you're awake."

Fin leaned over to her and gave her a hug; Alex nearly had tears coming out of her eyes as she cried, "I'm so happy that you guys came for me. You don't understand how lonely I am right now."

He pulled away to allow Munch to hug the wounded detective, where he would chime in, "We're sorry we didn't come earlier. You know how it is."

"I understand." Alex groaned, "So where's Rafael? I thought he would've come and said hello?"

Munch tried to explain, however Elliot cut him off before he could, and explained, "He's in arraignment right now."

"What do you mean, Elliot?"

"We caught her, Alex." he told her, "We got Euphemia for you. She's being arraigned right now. You no longer have to worry anymore."

"I never was worried. I was kind of afraid, you know?"

"What do you mean, Alex?" Cragen asked the detective.

Alex took a deep breath, maintaining a level of silence as she explained, "I had a feeling that she was going to find me, and possibly kill me. I watch the door to see who comes along, and I get chills when I hear footsteps. Maybe what I fear more than anything, is that she did something to either Suzaku or you guys. I would not be able to bear the idea of her doing anything bad to you guys, especially if I'm incapacitated. So I want one thing."

"What would that be?" Elliot asked.

"Make sure she doesn't hurt anyone else. She almost killed me – and she wasn't trying to. I can't imagine what she'd do to any of you, if she really tried."

Her words rocked them in a lot of ways, including positive in most ways. After the crazy ordeal that they have gone through this past week, it was important to them that they live up to this single request. However, they have done all they can do as far as capturing her. Everything else – was now up to Rafael Barba.

_Meanwhile,_  the arraignment was going smoothly at the moment. The case file had just been given to the judge, and Barba had just enough ammunition to lock down this case, thanks to the help of the detectives that worked for days to capture her and obtain the evidence. However, Euphemia had a couple weapons of her own – she was incredible when it comes to looking innocent as she held her cute, but manipulative demeanor.

The judge looked up from the folder and said to her, "How does the defendant plea?"

In between two attorneys, Euphemia proclaimed, "Not guilty, your honor."

"Really?" Barba laughed, "Then why do you need two lawyers?"

The judge wasn't paying attention, as he was flipping through the files, he asked the prosecution, "Where is the people on bail?"

"The people request remand." He told the judge, "The defendant poses an extreme flight risk, more specifically, for the NYPD."

In opposition to this request, one of her attorneys argued, "This is ludicrous, your honor. Our client does not impose any risk towards the people of this city, let alone the men and women in uniform. She has ties to the community as well as a military captain for a sister and a doctor for a step-mother."

"Despite her alleged ties to the community," he rolled his eyes and said, "The defendant shot and nearly murdered a detective, and stabbed an uniformed officer before she escaped."

This was quite difficult for the judge, as he decided after a moment of thought, "I agree with the prosecution. However, I must disagree in some categories. Bail is set at two million dollars, cash or bond; the defendant is remanded until bail is posted. Next case."

He banged the gavel, ending the arraignment. As Barba gathered his files and placed them back in the suitcase, Euphemia and her attorneys approached him for some reason. He knew instantly that they were going to try something to persuade the prosecutor. One of them walked closer to him and asked (or demanded):

"So, counselor? How about we make a deal so we don't have to kill you in court. Let's just agree on probation and we'll get out of your hand."

"Are you serious?" Barba smirked, who was both amused and disgusted at the same time, "Your client tried to kill two cops. She's getting more than probation. So whatever you want, you're not getting it."

Euphemia glared at the sharply dressed prosecutor, whist maintaining her doting smile, and whispered to him, "I don't think you understand who you're dealing with, counselor. Trust me, you think this is a cakewalk, but I assure you, you'll regret ever crossing paths with me."

Her words were dark and threatening, intended to shake him; but he would obtain that smirk once again and replied, "See you in court."

He walked away from them, smiling. He was quite happy with himself, and as mentioned earlier, he was not shaken at all by her words. He has practically seen a lot of it in his line of work. Still, he was unsure if this was an easy and shut case. But it is not like he can't try of course.

* * *

_As the trial date is set_ , the detectives and the prosecution prepared effortlessly to be sure that they have everything needed in order to bring her down. It seemed like a long shot to them, but they knew that they could pull off something, especially against her high-class lawyers. Aside from the other cases Barba and the SVU squad had to work with in between the trial, this was most like the most exhausting time period for the sassy ADA and this roughneck squad.

As for Alex, she was recovering quite well – until she ended up catching an infection. Ironically, it was found days before she was expected to leave. Other than that, she was progressing slowly but gradually. As time went by, Suzaku saw her through her recovery, making sure she was comfortable and only left if he needed to use the bathroom, or had to go to school. Besides that, he stayed with her until she was able to walk out by herself.

All through out her stay, she has had the pleasure to receive several greetings, get well gifts and so on, as everyone who worked in that precinct was pulling for her full recovery. That could not be any more noble than it could ever be. Still, she felt unwanted as she sat alone in her hospital room, as everyone else was out getting more action. Although, she was lucky that she was still alive, even if it meant she was going to be benched until she fully recovered.

_Back to the squad room_ , the detectives were busier than usual due to the circumstances. Aside from the work that they usually did, they were also dealing with the likes of Euphemia as well as the fact that one of their detectives is currently benched. But if anything, today was tiring as they were dragged in front of the grand jury as witnesses in her attempted murder case. Like the rest, Elliot threw his jacket on his desk and sat back in his chair, Cragen looked over and asked the detective.

"Detective, is there a problem?"

"Sorry, captain. I've had a long morning." Elliot replied.

"I guessed as much. Barba is applying a lot of pressure, especially today."

"It's just the same with Munch and Fin, we were brought out in front of the grand jury this morning. But at least, we got the attempted murder charge to stick."

"At least we have that, and the gun." Cragen nodded, "By the way, how is Alex? Is she doing alright?"

Rocking up and down in his chair, he answered, "Talked to the docs on my way over here, they say she's doing alright. But due to an infection, they're not sure when she will be cleared for release."

"Well tell Cabot about what's going on, because I assume Barba or the defense will call her in as a witness."

"Sure thing, captain."

Walking back into his office, Cragen told him, "Oh, detective. Make sure you tell Barba to get lots of sleep. And coffee. And so should you."

Obviously, the detectives were in for a long one. Still, it was all up to Barba to convince a jury to convict her. Clearly, that was not going to be easy; but since he had the firepower to do so, maybe it wasn't going to be a hard task.

_Later on, at trial,_  it was a packed courtroom as they just begin with opening statements. Things were beginning to unfold as they were now questioning witnesses; unfortunately, there were very few that were willing to stand up and tell them what happened. The few witnesses that they had started to make Barba suspicious, if anything. What he could not understand was how an entire squad room saw a detective get shot, but only some of them came forward as witnesses.

He started to wonder if Euphemia was keeping them from testifying against her; however, he was unable to prove this, thus throwing this theory in the water. Nevertheless, he still had some that clearly saw that happened, such as three of the detectives. Among those who also saw it happening, was Kallen and Captain Cragen – but only Kallen was issued to testify. But regardless of how many witnesses he had, he still had the gun used to shoot Alex.

Thus, solidifying the case; if not barely. Moving on, Barba had Detective Stabler on the stand to describe the events. He was straight forward without going too far and he was serious yet sincere with every question he asked him. Placing his elbow on the stand, he asked him:

"Detective, can you explain what happened that day?"

"Well, Kallen came into our squad room, trying to tell me about something the defendant did," Elliot explained to the prosecutor, "And then she came in, surprising me, her and Suzaku."

"Who showed up in the squad room after her?"

Elliot looked at Euphemia, who was smiling at him and Barba, and said whist pointing, "She walked in just moments after her."

"Let the record show that Detective Stabler has identified the defendant as the person who entered the squad room." Barba proclaimed, "Thank you, detective."

As he walked back, the defense were uninterested in Elliot so one of the attorneys spoke out and said, "We have no questions for this witness."

"Detective, you may step down." said the judge, who dismissed him from the stand.

Another witness in this case was Sergeant Munch, who like Elliot, also watched the confrontation escalate. It has been a while since the last time Munch has ever been called to testify in any kind of trial, unless you count the grand jury hearing the other day. They wasted no time with Munch, but instead of Barba asking the questions, one of her defense attorneys came up to him and asked questions.

"Sergeant Munch, is it true that you were in charge of SVU after Detective Cabot was shot?"

"It was mandatory, as our captain was absent."

"Is it my acknowledgment that during the time you were in command, an officer was wounded when our client was in your custody?"

"I believe so. But it was not discovered until Captain Cragen returned."

The defense attorney walked off for a brief moment; but then walked back and asked the sergeant, "Is it my belief that our client managed to stab the officer, then evade an entire precinct of police officers? Do you honestly believe that's what happened, or is that a conspiracy?"

"Objection!' Barba shouted out loud.

Immediately, the defense attorney quickly said, "Withdrawn. Sergeant Munch, how did our client escape your custody?"

"We are unsure. But what we know is that the victim described his attacker that matches her description."

Since he could not exactly get anything incrimination from him, he backed off and said, "No further questions, your honor."

Barba scratched his head in frustration, since things weren't going very well. At least for the them of course. But now before things wrapped up, they called on another witness to testify – Sergeant Tutuola. He was calm and uninterested at best. He took a glance at Euphemia for a moment to examine her; from the way she smiled, she looked as if she was enjoying herself, and full of herself. But another thing that ticked was the fact that she glared at him with interest.

Thought it was something that he was not bothered by, he looked away and focused his attention to the prosecutor, as he asked, "Sergeant, what can you recollect from that day?"

"I went searching for Alex, because Suzaku asked for her. Then we both heard some yelling coming from outside the room," Fin explained, "We both went out to check and we saw the defendant in a verbal confrontation with that woman right over there."

"May the record show that Sergeant Tutuola is referring to Ms. Kallen Kozuki." Barba clarified yet again, "What else happened?"

"We then saw Euphemia pull out a gun, threatening to shoot someone."

"How many shots were fired in the time the weapon was out?"

From what he was able to recollect from that day, he answered, "There were five shots that were fired, two in the ceiling and three pointing forward."

"Thank you, sergeant."

Before the defense could ask Fin any questions, the judge suddenly announced to the court, "We have no time for today. Trial will resume tomorrow at 8am sharp. Court is dismissed."

The judge banged the gavel, effectively ending the trial for today. Everyone headed for the door, as Barba himself called it a day. Though he wasn't able to introduce the evidence against her, it was a considerable day but he knew that it is going to get even more tough as it goes along. For the detectives, they were just happy that they were finally done with this.

* * *

_The following day, back at trial_ , after that shake up last time, Barba came in with encouragement, now looking to put her away for life. The detectives did not know about this, considering what happened – they still did not know. But for their ADA, he came back to show Euphemia that he means business. If not for himself or to put another person behind bars, but to help the people who were affected by this single woman. Today, he had Kallen on the stand.

She has never done anything like this before, in fact, she didn't know what to say. But at least she understood the basic things about this, which may help her. However, there may be a snag to this. Euphemia anticipated the fact that Kallen had to testify, meaning that she had some plans of her own. In some ways, she wondered herself how did she even get here in the first place. Considering their history, worse case scenario is it could turn ugly.

Nevertheless, she calmly sat on the stand, prepared to answer the prosecutor's questions. Barba walked over to her and asked, "On the day of the shooting, can you tell the court why you came to the squad room that day?"

"I came to the precinct that day to inform Suzaku and the detectives of something about Euphemia." she explained.

"What would that be?"

Looking at her with hatred, she replied, "Something that she had done to a close friend of mine."

"Okay, now did you see the defendant shoot Detective Cabot?"

"Yes. I did." she nodded; meanwhile Euphemia was vaguely trying to intimidate her by her calculating stares.

While holding a folder, containing the report from that day, Barba referred to a part in the report, and asked, "According to the police report, you lunged at the defendant in hopes to disarm the gun. Is that true?"

"Yes, it is." she nodded again.

"Were you successful?"

She looked down in disappointment and answered, "No, I wasn't."

"Thank you. No further questions for this witness." Barba told the judge, walking off. Then the defense took their turn, in hopes to potentially shake her up a little. If not a lot.

"Now, Ms. Kozuki. I know that you and out client have a certain history together, as do you and her brother."

"Objection, irrelevant!" Barba stood up and shouted.

"Get on with your question." told the judge.

"Certainly." he nodded, "Now, how long have you known my client?"

She stood there for a bit, trying to remember. Then told him, "Over a decade."

"Now, how long have you known that man?" he leaned over and asked, pointing to Suzaku who was in the courtroom.

She stared at him for a while, distracting her. And slowly told the attorney, "For nearly fifteen years."

"It is my belief that you two have dated for a while. How long have you two been together?"

"We  _were_  together for five years." she sighed. From the tone, she did not want to go through this right now.

"Were? So you aren't together anymore, is that right?"

"Uh? Yeah, but-"

"Is it my belief that you had cheated on him?"

"Objection!" Barba shouted out again. Clearly this did not look like it was going well."

"Sustained. Get on with it, counselor." said the judge, who was also annoyed by this line of questions.

"Now, miss. Did you cheat on him with my client's brother, yes or no?"

"Yes, I did." she answered, just to the point where she was about to shed tears. Obviously, she was upset by the fact she's being reminded of this.

"Your honor, it is clear that this witness is obviously biased against my client and is lying about the events that led to the detective's shooting. If she cannot be truthful to her boyfriend, then how can she be truthful under oath?"

Seeing how bad things went the judge banged the gavel hard, and ordered, "Counselors, approach."

As they met with the judge, everyone were shocked if anything; Euphemia grinned as she watched one of her attorneys derail Kallen and shoot down her credibility. Suzaku couldn't believe it, the detectives could not believe it, not even Barba could believe that they would go so low.

"You son of a bitch." Barba muttered, under his breath; he himself was also angry at the defense. But he joined them for this conference.

"Mr. Winthrop, what was that all about?"

"We believe that our client is being falsely accused by a woman who not only engaged in a relationship with our client's brother, but is purposely trying to frame our client based on her personal bias against her." he explained, even though he couldn't prove it.

"You're accusing her of perjury?" Barba exclaimed, "That is low, especially for you two."

To assure that there is no heated confrontation, the judge told the three attorneys, "While I don't believe that the witness is lying about the events that day, we are unsure whether or not her previous history with the client's brother and her previous relationship have any sort of effect on her credibility. If the witness has a personal bias against the defendant herself, then that may give the defense grounds to question her credibility. But for now, it is clear speculation."

Though it was a fight that went in his favor, seeing how it all nearly blew up in their faces, he knew that there was only one option left; in order to tip the balance in his favor, there was only one way that he could possibly bring her down.

* * *

_Back in the hospital_ , Alex received a surprise visitor as she was waiting for Suzaku to return, whom was at the courthouse as was the other detectives. It was an angered Barba who came to speak to her, after the cluster that happened not long ago. He hoped to try and convince her to come and set things straight, but as far as convincing a person like Alex, that might be a difficult task itself. During their conversation, he asked her this, in which she replied:

"You want me to testify in open court?"

"It's the best you can do right now." he explained, "Apparently, the defense is playing dirty. Badgering a witness like that. I need you to come back to testify against her."

"Forget it!" Alex objected, "You can't make your case, now you're dragging my ass into court?"

"I don't mean to offend you. But from the looks of this, I need your testimony. The jury now believes that Kallen isn't a credible witness in  _your_  attempted murder case. I need to convince the jury that she intended to cause harm against you and/or Suzaku."

"Look, I know that you are frustrated but what's the point in dragging me into court? If she did the same to Kallen, she'll most likely do the same with me."

This was not going so well, so he had no other options but to tell her, "Alex, not long ago, you've convinced dozens of victims to come forward against their attackers. You even stepped up and faced the person who tried to kill you. Why not do it again?"

"Fine. If you really need me, then I suppose that I should do it one more time." Alex eventually agreed, "But you must focus on Euphemia. From where it stands, you have to convince the jury that she's not innocent and that she intended to kill either me or Suzaku. Soon enough, the defense will call her to the stand – you need to show them who she really is."

"Are you sure about this, detective?"

"I've been doing this for years, Rafael. I know what I'm talking about. Wait until she incriminates herself, then do your job."

He did not say anything else to the blonde detective, but rather headed back to court before intermission ended. There was a reason that Barba looked up to her; before she left, she served as his mentor, teaching him some special tricks about the law. Hopefully, this could, if anything, help him and bring her down.

_Back at the courthouse_ , the thirty minute intermission concluded, with Barba returning just in time. He had to set up a game plan against them, as did they. Exposing people like this in court is basically one of his specialties. The detectives and Suzaku watched as they defense fed the jury a load so bad, that Elliot wanted to laugh. Still, the defense had the advantage at the moment, they had the jury where they wanted them to be. For the prosecution, that was gonna change.

As the defense asked Euphemia questions, Barba listened carefully to every word she said. One of her defense attorneys asked her, "Now tell us, what happened that day?"

"I came to the precinct to greet my old friend Suzaku, when I saw Kallen already there trying to make up some lies." she explained (lied), "Then all of a sudden, she attacked me. Fortunately, I had a gun to defend myself. So I fired a few warning shots, which happened to hit Detective Cabot."

"Thank you for giving us your side of the story."

She smiled at him as he walked away. Now it was time for Barba to uncover her true self. He walked over to her slowly, standing about a great distance away. He took the time to examine her, just like Fin; he realized how evil she truly was. He did not buy into her good girl demeanor, which she typically switches too. He read her body language, and it showed him how smug she is at that moment. She was full of herself, and determined that she would get away.

She had another thing coming. Barba walked a few more steps and said, "From your testimony, it seems like you have had it bad. From what that sounded, it makes you the victim. Is that right? Oh, and I remind you that you are under oath."

"Of course. She tried to do bad things to me and Suzaku."

"Even though she was merely speaking to Detective Stabler at the time?"

"Hm? I wouldn't know."

He walked away and picked up a folder. He opened it and started reading to her, "According to this statement, it seemed as if she wasn't trying to harm you. In fact, according to several witnesses, you pulled out the gun _before_  Kallen allegedly attacked you."

"Did you have your detectives lie to make your case?"

"I'll ask the questions." Barba clarified; then moved on and continued, "Is it true that you said and I quote,  _'You all may think you have me surrounded, but I hope you know that if you try to stop me, he dies.'_? Were these your exact words?"

"He was attacking me!" she yelled.

"Interesting? Didn't you say that it was Kallen attacking you?"

"Yes, but-" she tried to say, but Barba cuts her off.

"Is it true that you tried to kill Detective Cabot?" he asked.

Quickly, one of the defense attorneys yelled out, "Objection!"

"Overruled. Answer the question."

She found herself in a right spot, thanks to Barba. He waited for a answer, as she started to fret. She looked down and answered, "No, I wasn't."

"Come on? I thought you were tough. Apparently, you yourself had a relationship with Suzaku Kururugi. Jealous of his relationship with Detective Cabot, you aimed to get her out of the picture. Is that correct?"

"No it's not, I never wanted to shoot her!" Euphemia yelled at the prosecutor.

"I know. Because you were actually trying to shoot him." Barba rebutted, walking back to the table, he pulled out a plastic zip bag carrying a gun, which he explained, "I present Exhibit B, the gun used by the defendant to shoot Detective Alexandra Cabot. By examination, you can see that her fingerprints are on the handle of the gun. Still consider yourself as a victim? No further questions."

Euphemia glared at him with hatred in her eyes, as the judge said to her, "You may step down."

As she walked back, she muttered to the ADA, "This isn't over, counselor."

Hearing her comment, he smirked and whispered, "Yes it is."

After closing statements, the jury left to deliberate. They waited outside for two hours to await the decision, giving everyone just enough time to do whatever they wished. Obviously, it was perhaps the hardest thing that Barba had ever had to do in his career. He fought it over with himself over a cup of coffee, so he can calm his nerves. Suzaku watched everything unfold, and was disappointed as to how things escalated – he expected better.

Also waiting outside, were the detectives as they hoped to see a good outcome. Yet, they did not like how things turned out, especially for Kallen. But one of the biggest disappointments in this trial was that neither Alex nor Suzaku testified, due to the fact that Suzaku wasn't called to do so, and Alex was too late. Rest assured, she actually tried to make it to the courthouse in time; just as well because it would have been more tense with Alex there.

Nevertheless, the jury was finished, thus meaning that they were called back in to await their decision. Strangely enough, Euphemia was sure that the jury would disregard everything else and voted to acquit her of any wrongdoing. And as for the prosecution, he just hoped that they were not tricked. Now it was time to find out.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" asked the judge.

"Yes we have, your honor." said the jury foreman, who had the verdict.

"On the first count, attempted murder in the first degree. What is the jury's verdict?"

He looked into the card and was prepared to say.  _However_ , a person in a dark blue suit barged right in as they read the verdict. Gasps could be heard, as well as muttering. Barba knew exactly who this man was, as did the detectives. They were wondering why  _he_  was here in a time like this, but he approached the judge and announced.

"District Attorney Jonathan Bartlett, at your service. I am here to give you this on behalf of the people."

The judge looked at the paper, while Barba was wondering why the DA would suddenly come in. After further examination, the judge announced to the court, "According to this, the people have dropped the charge of attempted murder. Despite the unlikely circumstances, I must abide by this decision by the people. The defendant is free to go."

He banged the gavel, ending the session. There were mixed reactions, one side angry, other side ecstatic. The detectives looked around in disbelief, as did Barba, who is still trying to figure out why his boss came in like this, but as also upset with the fact that he dropped the charges at the last second. End game – they lost a trial that they could have potentially won. No conviction, no justice, nothing came out of this.

* * *

_Back in the squad room_ , the detectives were back, angry and disappointed as you could be. It wasn't the fact that they lost, but more over the fact that Euphemia got away. As they tried to soak this up, they also wondered what exactly went wrong and why it happened. Captain Cragen walked out of his office to see that the detectives were back, but what he could not understand what why they were so upset. He walked out and asked his detectives.

"What happened today?"

"The DA let her go. Dropped the charges and let her go home free." Elliot explained.

"What do you mean 'dropped the charges'? What happened?"

"Right before the verdict, the DA came in and dropped the charges." Munch told him, "Barba is wondering why he did it, but we are just upset over the fact that she got away."

"From what I heard, the jury voted unanimously to convict." Fin chimed in, "We could've won this one."

This was too surreal for Captain Cragen, he didn't know who to blame. Their ADA was not to blame, neither were the detectives. After shaking his head, he inquired, "So Alex gets shot, the DA drops the charges, and most of all, Euphemia gets away. Just goes to show that it can be all for nothing."

Elliot got up and approached his captain, asking him, "So what's our next move, captain?"

"I think I have an idea." uttered a female voice. It startled the detectives, but for some reason they felt as though they knew that voice. Elliot, Munch, Fin and Cragen looked behind themselves and their eyes widened once they saw who it was –  _Now-FBI_   _Special Agent (and former detective), Olivia Benson_.

She would smile at her former colleagues and said, "Hey guys. Miss me?"

* * *

**End of Chapter Thirteen**


	14. Second Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following the events of the trial, former SVU detective Olivia Benson, who now works for the FBI, comes in to assist the squad, when they catch a break.

_Over the past several weeks, the detectives of Manhattan SVU has gone through turmoil after the shooting. It is still haunting to this day to think that they nearly lost both a valued detective and an outstanding friend in one blow. Of course Suzaku has suffered personally, but compared to them – it was quite equal. They have gone through plenty of changes in the past few years, some that they are still trying to adjust too, alas if you look at it this way – that's what makes life interesting; change will happen._

_Most certainly change has occurred in these past few years, but it wasn't until Alex and Suzaku met, was when both their lives and SVU were thrown into a tailspin – and that is the most surprising of all. Now it is easy for one to think about the "what-ifs" now and again, but no matter how hard you try, nothing will change; your present decisions that will affect the future, but your thoughts will not change the past. So despite the pain and heartache that they can go through together, it won't change what happened to her._

_Fortunately, Alex has been given a second chance at life – a life that was narrowly taken by the hands of Euphemia. She is grateful but also disappointed, considering that Euphemia is a free woman, but she did not wonder as to why it happened; she did not blame Barba as he did his job nor did she blame the detectives. It is very hard to understand how she does not think about revenge whenever she hears her name, in fact they did not understand if she had any feelings positive or negative about her._

_Regardless of what she is thinking, she is happy to be here, and she is more happy that she saved the one she cared about the most. If you think about it, the shooting would have been tragic, whether or not it was still Alex that jumped in and saved Suzaku, or that she was too late and thus resulted in Suzaku getting shot instead – to them, it didn't matter. As for the SVU detectives, they too might receive a second chance; if anything, the outcome may be different._

After the shocking and unusual twist to the trial, the detectives of Manhattan SVU still wonder about what happened out there. They clearly saw something fishy about the whole decision, and to say the least – they wanted answers. This was a difficult time for the squad, as not only is one of their own sidelined for the time being, but they now have to figure out how this went wrong and how they plan to resolve this situation. And by  _situation_ , that means putting Euphemia behind bars.

Though luckily for them, someone whom they are quite familiar with is here to perhaps help them with their cause.  _Special Agent Olivia Benson_  – a former SVU detective, who left the squad no more than a few years ago – for the  _FBI_. Though they were happy to see their old friend and colleague once again, the question that still loomed was,  _What is a federal agent doing is this squad room for any purpose?_  Usually this is common whenever a federal agent walks in but still.

Olivia stood boldly in the squad, thinking about all the years she spent working sex crimes and helping victims. Though she missed it more than anything, she needed to move on. Anyways, she glanced at her former partner, Elliot Stabler and her other former co-workers with a sign of grace and a majestic smile on her face. They were surprised yet happy to see their old friend once more.

Elliot walked a few steps towards her, in awe as he said, "Olivia? Is it really you?"

"The very same." she replied, with a smile. Elliot chuckled and smiled back at his former partner, while Captain Cragen walked over and greeted:

"Welcome back,  _Agent_  Benson. We've missed you."

"I assumed you did. But it's great to be back where it all started."

"How's the FBI treating you, Liv?" Munch asked her.

"Very good, if you must know." she replied, "But it doesn't beat this place for sure."

"So Liv, what are you doing here? Are you back on our side?" Fin chimed in and asked.

She nodded in response, "Not quite. I'm here for official business."

"Well whatever case you need help on, we'll be more than willing to hand them over to you." Elliot told his ex-partner, with a defeated tone.

Olivia noticed how run down and depressing it was around the squad room, another thing she noticed was how Alex was absent. So she asked them, "What's going on around here? It seems as if all of you guys have had it rough while I was gone."

"Oh no, we're not run down because of you." Cragen explained, "We are actually exhausted because one of our suspects got away at trial."

"You mean Euphemia?" Olivia inquired, which sent a shock wave around the room, "I know. That's why I'm here. You see when I heard that she was arrested by this squad, I had to come back and talk to her. She is currently suspected of controlling a million dollar scheme, while she being investigated for identity fraud and perjury."

"I didn't know you work white-collar crimes? Doesn't seem like something you would do."

"Yeah, I wanted to work elsewhere in the bureau, but they rejected my request. They said I was more suited for this."

"Well either way, how severe is the crimes against her?" Cragen asked her.

"She is facing a long-term prison sentence; can't tell you how long." Olivia explained, "But the real question is, where is she?"

"Well there is a problem, Olivia." Cragen explained, "We don't have her in our custody."

Olivia was in slight disbelief when he broke the news; which she asked, "She's not in custody? Where the hell did she go?"

"Apparently, she managed to slink away after the DA dropped the charges against her. Worse enough, at the very last second."

She sighed and rubbed her forehead in distress, but she turned back around and exclaimed, "So what you are telling me is that I'm screwed?"

But to their surprise, things would turn around in their favor – as Sergeant Munch chimed in the conversation, informing them, "Not necessarily. Just got off the phone with the patrol officers watching her, she had gotten into an altercation with a man outside an apartment building. They have both been taken in and being taken back to the precinct as we speak."

They looked at Munch, then looked right back with each other – now with Olivia giving her former captain a pleased smirk. She said in a pleased manner, "I guess we found the opportunity I was looking for after all. How about you guys stick around when I take her down?"

"Sounds good." Elliot nodded.  _Now it is time to play the waiting game._

* * *

_**-Meanwhile-** _

Over the past few weeks since the accident, there has been a manhunt, a trial, and a criminal that got away – but that has not stopped Alex from recovering in such a fast and steady pace. While people have put her health in doubt, expecting her to succumb from her injuries, and people who thought she probably would never wake up again, were all wrong. Though she never got an opportunity to testify against her attacker like she did once before, the fact she was still alive was enough for her to claim the victory.

And for the first time since then, Alex is coming back home. Though she was good enough to be cleared from the hospital and was healthy enough, she was still on mandated leave by the department. She couldn't imagine the idea of her not working for more than a week; or less than that. No matter what her status was, she was still destined to return to work soon – and leaving the hospital with everything she had with her, returning to her comfortable (and empty) apartment, was another step forward.

As the blonde detective returned to her apartment, she was being helped in by Suzaku, who has assisted her all through out the day, from the hospital to right now. Regardless of how well she was, he still felt like helping her, in the event that something else might happen if he's not around; so it was imperative that he assured that she remained safe all throughout the process. Even if, it meant he had to do the very same thing she did for him.

The two made it near her door, as he carried her around his shoulder; Alex did not like it and said, "Suzaku please, I don't need you to help her around. I'm perfectly fine."

"I'm aware of that, but I want to relieve the stress and pressure off you. You never know when your wounds might open up on you."

"I highly doubt that will happen." Alex rebutted, while removing his arm from her, "So if you could just get off of me for a second, allow me to open my door."

With a quick turn of the key and the knob, they were back inside. They both had flashbacks of what happened the day before, and it seemed as if it all happened in this very place. It made them feel strange and uncomfortable, made them wonder what if nothing happened that night that led to the events the following day. They couldn't change the past, but they could very least move on.

Within a few steps inside, Alex dropped her purse; she leaned down to pick it up, but Suzaku stopped her, picked it up for her and said, "Here you go. No need to bend down for stuff."

"Suzaku, I was shot in the chest, not in the back." Alex sighed.

"I know, but like I said, I don't want you to do much already."

"I understand that you want me to arrive home safely, but could you please tone it down? Not that I don't want you here, but I just want to perform certain tasks on my own. Does that make sense?"

He looked down, away from her and nodded, "I understand, Alexandra."

Suddenly, she pinched his ear and lifted his head back up. She looked at him with slight interest and chuckled, "Since when do you start calling me that?"

"Well, I thought as if I should say it."

She nodded in agreement, and replied, "Okay, Suzaku. Whatever suits you better, but for future reference – just call me Alex to avoid any potential injury."

"Yes, Alex. I understand."

"Good." she smiled, letting go of his ear and walked to her bedroom. Until suddenly, she stopped right in her tracks, and looked right back at Suzaku and asked, "I'm not the type of person who asks anybody this at all, but I'll say it anyways. Could you stay here with me? At least for the night."

For some reason, Suzaku wasn't afraid or shocked, no he maintained a neutral expression. "Alex, I know you are still shaken up, but Euphie is not going to come after you. You're already safe without me."

"It's not about safety." she retracted, "It's because after everything that has happened, I don't wanna be here all alone. I need a companion right now, and I thought you'd be the right person."

"Well if you just need some company, I suppose I could stay for a while."

Alex smiled and replied, "That would be nice."

* * *

 _Meanwhile,_  the detectives once again caught a lucky break, after a snafu leads to Euphemia returning to the squad, again being questioned. Though they were unable to refile charges against her for attempted murder, the suspicion of fraud was a good enough reason to bring her right back to the squad. However, like the various crimes SVU does not investigate, one of them has to be white-collar crimes – but that is exactly why Agent Benson is there to help.

It was  _6 pm_  in the squad room, as they held Euphemia inside the interrogation room; a place that she was well familiar with. Outside the room, they watched as she carelessly tended to her fingernails, not so much as caring about what the detectives want with her this time or the chance that they might get a chance to land her straight to jail. Olivia watched her, with a look of discontent; she did not like her in any way, but she was not going to allow her personal bias get in the way of the case.

"Look at her. Not a care in the world; she doesn't have the slightest concern about what may happen to her." she said in front of her ex-partner and captain, "So, how should we do this? Just ask her the simple stuff, or do it like the good old days."

It sounded tempting, especially to Elliot but Cragen had to address this to her, "Benson, you don't know what she is capable of. She has escaped police custody, nearly killed two cops, and got off. Make one mistake, and she is gone forever. Meaning we cannot pursue her anymore."

"He's right, Liv." Elliot chimed in, "We went through hell trying to find her, and look where we are. We need to handle this carefully."

"I take it she has put you guys through hell, if I'm correct?"

"You don't know the half of it, Agent." Cragen replied.

Olivia nodded and turned back to Euphemia, and glanced at her for a moment. She reminded them, "We have 24 hours before we can release her. Let's take our time."

They nodded in agreement, with her and Elliot walking into the interrogation room. To both of them, it has been a long time since they have ever been inside interrogation – on the account of her departure. But no matter how long it has been, their job remained the very same. Elliot entered first, along with Olivia, who has holding one of the case files in her hand. The three exchanged smiles, but not a single word.

Elliot broke the silence and chuckled, "Well, well, well. If it isn't our favorite criminal."

"Oh how humorous, detective. You sure know how to make me laugh." she said, in a sarcastic tone; Euphemia stared directly at Olivia, who was standing right behind him – then said, "I don't believe I've met you before, ma'am?"

"No, you haven't." Olivia smirked, then introduced herself, "Agent Olivia Benson, I'm with the FBI."

"Nice to make your acquaintance." she replied, "You guys had to call the feds because of an argument?"

"Oh no, I'm here for a different purpose." Olivia retorted, "You see, I've had my eyes on you for a while now. I've monitored every movement, every transaction you've made, I've been watching you for quite some time. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

She giggled in response, and inquired to the detective, "How come your other female partner couldn't be as nice as her?"

"Let's leave her out of this. How about we talk about you for a while?" Elliot suggested, whist sitting backwards in his chair, "Do you understand your rights?"

"Of course. I don't need to bother my lawyers over petty things like this." she replied.

"Well, I'm glad you waive your rights to counsel. Now let's begin," he said, rubbing his hands together, "Now can you explain what happened with you earlier this afternoon?"

"Oh, I was a little upset over something. I suppose I lost my head, and did something I shouldn't have. We all make mistakes."

"Who was the person you were talking too?" asked Agent Benson.

"It was nobody, just some inconsiderate person causing trouble."

Olivia puckered her lips for a minute, and contradicted her answer – telling her, "Well that is kind of weird, because from what the patrol officers told us, it seemed as if he knew you quite well."

"He could have mistaken me for someone else."

"Really, how many women with pink hair are in New York with the same name as you?" she inquired, "You see, I've worked on the job for a long time. I know when someone is lying. You see what we found out about that guy is very interesting. Now you live in Staten Island, right?"

Euphemia shrugged and replied, "Not long, but yes I do live there."

"So is it kind of odd for you to go all the way from Staten Island to Manhattan, just to get into a argument with someone you don't know?" she again inquired, "You want to know something? If you're gonna lie, then at least come up with something better than that. I took a little digging and discovered that he isn't just a stranger you met, but rather your older brother."

And then, the emotion in her face suddenly drained. Now she was in slight distress, when she told her. But at least the advantage was currently in their favor;  _meanwhile,_  in the interview room, next door to the captain's office, Lelouch sat on the couch, playing around on his phone. He didn't know why he was dragged into the precinct along with his younger sister, but what was not deniable was he too was in trouble for some reason.

Ten minutes waiting for someone to come inside, Munch and Fin walked in the room, much to Lelouch's disdain. He was heavily reminded of when they uncovered his relationship with Kallen, which effectively ended his friendship with Suzaku – and since then, he has not only held it against himself, but against them as well.

"What the hell do you two want?" he said, with anger in his voice.

They were, in no way, interested in the fact that he did not like them. Which Fin addressed, "You can be mad as us, but it will not change a thing. Trust me. Now, we need to talk to you about something, about your altercation with Euphemia."

"Hm? Since when is arguments and disagreements considered sex crimes?"

"Do not get sassy with us, young man." Munch told him, bluntly. "The last thing we need is to hear any crap coming out of your mouth. So for your sake, keep your feelings about us to yourself and cooperate with us. Can you do that simple task for us?"

As much as he did not want to talk with the likes of them, he eventually obliged, "Sure. What can I do for you gentlemen?"

"We need to talk about your sister really quick." Fin told him, "From what patrol told us, you two were fighting over something that had to do with... what? That is what they were able to report, now help fill in the blank."

As hard as it was for Lelouch to say anything to them, he explained, "She came outside my apartment building, trying to convince me to come back to my apartment and talk. I told her no, and told her to go away. But then she started to get ugly, threatening me if I didn't listen to her. I said I was going to tell the police about her, then she tried to attack me."

"What were you trying to tell the police?" Munch asked him.

Suddenly, Lelouch froze up, refusing to say another word. This is when they started to worry about him, as they started to notice how odd he was acting, especially whenever they mention her or utter her name in front of him. They were weary that there was something going on.

"Is there something you aren't telling us?" Fin asked.

"Of course not!" he shouted, then started to get irritated, "Now I don't want to talk about her, if you don't mind I want to speak about something else."

"Talk about what?" Munch inquired.

Lelouch started to look away from them, which gave Fin an indication. He exclaimed, "What the hell did she do to you?"

The conversation continued for another few minutes, until Munch and Fin eventually walked out the room, now having to deal with their ADA, who was displeased with how that was handled. Since Cragen was watching Elliot and Olivia interrogate Euphemia, Barba was set to watch them speak to Lelouch. Clearly, he did not like what he saw.

"Well that was short and displeasing." he remarked, shaking his head.

Munch approached him and asked the prosecutor, "What can we do? We've tried to speak about her, but for some reason he keeps trying to push off from the subject."

"Perhaps she is intimidating him somehow." Fin assumed.

"He probably fears that she might come after him, like she did with Suzaku and the others." Munch also assumed.

Then out of nowhere, Barba said with a stern look, "Or he was raped?"

His words sparked a lot of interest and disbelief from the two sergeants, who looked at him with curiosity and confusion. Munch cocked his head to the side and asked him, "What do you mean he was raped, counselor?"

"I don't know. But from what I saw, it probably happened to him." Barba replied, further explaining this to the detectives.

* * *

_**Flashback** _

_'During the trial, Kallen came to my office...'_

_One evening during the trial, Barba sat at his desk, going through the files and drinking his favorite cup of coffee, until Kallen unexpectedly appeared in his office. She intentionally coughed to get his attention, which caused him to look up at her. Instinctively, he was unsure what Kallen would want from him, let alone how she was able to find where he worked. Judging from her expression, he assumed that since she was here to tell him something, he might as well hear her out._

_Putting down a folder, Barba greeted the red head, "Ms. Kozuki, what a surprise."_

" _Mr. Barba, I need to come to you for something."_

" _Sure thing," he said, welcoming her inside and offering her a seat, "Now, what can I do for you? You know you're expected to take the stand tomorrow?"_

_'She said something about her trying to tell you guys something that day...'_

" _I understand that. But I feel as if I should tell you this, something I tried to tell the detectives."_

" _What do you wish to tell me?"_

" _It's about Euphemia. There's something that you need to know."_

" _Like what?" he inquired._

_Kallen took a deep breath, and told the ADA, "The day before Detective Cabot was shot, I went over to visit my friend Lelouch, who is also her older brother."_

" _Yes, go on."_

" _I walked in, and I realized what I mess it was. I went searching for him, until I saw him naked in his bed – with Euphemia walking out of his bathroom with only a towel. And that's how I found out."_

" _Found out what?"_

_'...And then she told me that she believes that Euphemia had sexually assaulted him.'_

_She looked down for a moment, then looked up and said, "I found out that day that Euphemia raped him."_

_Barba was shocked to hear this, though he saw it as a allegation, he had to ask, "Are you sure that's what happened?"_

" _Absolutely. She gloated about it, and then did it to him again just to provoke me." Kallen continued to explain, holding back her anger, "Tell me, is there some way that you can charge her for that?"_

_'I didn't believe it at first, so I repelled her statement and told her I couldn't file charges and that only he could...'_

_As much as he was disgusted at that moment, Barba had to break it to her, telling her, "Miss, I'm afraid that I cannot charge her for rape."_

" _Why the hell not?!"_

" _I can't charge her based on the testimony from a third-party witness. No matter what she told you, I cannot use it as it is inadmissible. If such a possibility that this Lelouch comes forward about this, then I can charge her with you as a witness."_

" _So you can't charge her only because it's not coming from Lelouch? Is there anything you can do?"_

" _That's why she's on trial for attempted murder." Barba replied, then walking Kallen out of his office, "Go home, get some rest. Calm down a little, because you have a long day ahead of you."_

" _Understood. See you in the morning."_

_He nodded and closed the door, as she walked out. Suddenly, it started to bother him; he wants to do something about it, but because of the law, there was no chance that he could add the charge using only her testimony. Like he said, he needed Lelouch's statement from the police to charge her. Though at least he has her for attempted murder, if that can't put her away, nothing else can._

_**End Flashback** _

* * *

"Are you sure about this, counselor?" Fin exclaimed.

"More sure than I probably ever have." he nodded.

"So are you suggesting that we confront him about it?" Munch asked the prosecutor.

"Absolutely not!" he repelled, "The way I see it, trying to confront him about it will not help our case in any way. The only thing we'll get out of it, is that he will refuse to talk to us."

Fin sighed, scratching his scalp and asked him, "So what do you recommend, counselor?"

"I would simply shy away from the topic. Speak to him about general things, and hope that he says something about it. Otherwise, if that does not work, try and ask him some subtle questions and see what you can find out. Do not coerce him, and especially don't badger him. Understood?"

"We got it, counselor." Fin agreed, but later addressed whist looking at him walking around the room, "It's a damn shame to see him like this. Times like this, I wonder how we can help?"

"You have to get him to trust him, sergeant. But try to make him as comfortable as possible, even if you have to spend the whole night talking to him."

The idea of them staying there any longer irked them in many ways, but in an attempt to lighten the situation, Munch remarked, "Well, time to put on our pajamas."

This was gonna be worse than they thought.

* * *

_**Later that night...** _

_It has been a long time since I've ever have a male friend in my home. I've become so unfamiliar with it, I honestly don't know what to do. In fact, I don't know what to say; men are used to hearing me talk professionally nowadays, and I fear my conversations with him may creep him out in many ways. But I suppose it couldn't hurt to try old things; maybe I might remember the times where I've had the company of a man – but in this case, at least this won't end sexually. I hope not._

_I honestly don't care what people think about my friendship with Suzaku. Usually, when a person sees a younger male, with an older female, it either means the woman is his mother, or they might be "dating". I realize that our friendship may cause people to look at us in weird ways, but I don't care. People can assume all they want, doesn't mean they know anything about what goes on or who we are, or even what we do together._

_I am not saying that me and Suzaku has ever been intimate, but I guess if you want to use that word to describe our friendship, then intimate would mean we are as close as two people can be – without the relationship being sexual. That is my perception, I can't say much about his._

With the skyline of Manhattan outside, cars could be heard and so many sounds, but that was not the case – inside Alex's apartment, she was having the best time she has had in such a long time. With Suzaku as a guest in her home, all of her worries were put on hold. Over the past few hours, they've entertained each other in various ways and has had a array of fun during the time he has been there. Clearly there was hardly a care in the world at the time – that was better than sorrow.

 _As the clock hit 11 pm,_  Alex spread herself around her couch after Suzaku cooked her a nice meal for her. She could hardly remember the last time she has ever cooked anything in that kitchen of hers, which was so deserted, there were actually cobwebs on the pots, pans and even the utensils. Albeit freaked out a bit, he was kind of happy. He did not necessarily make himself at home, but more rather served as a trusty companion for the entire evening.

"I swear it has been a long time since I've had a home cooked meal like that. Thanks so much, Suzaku." she moaned.

He turned over and smiled, "You're welcome, Alex."

She flipped herself off her back and onto her stomach, then asked, "How did you learn to cook like that?"

"Well, when you live with a selfish roommate who won't share her food, let alone her pizza, you basically have to do things on your own. But I have no reason to complain, I like cooking. The idea of creating something puts a smile on my face. Sometimes."

"I swear, if you were much older, I'd marry you. I'm not joking; I would." she chuckled. Which enabled laughs from them both. But she would jump out of her couch, and yawned, "I wish I could talk all night with you, but it's getting late, so I'm going to bed."

"Do you want me to leave, or do you want me to stay here?" he asked.

"Sure, you can sleep on-" she smiled and told him, however she flashed back to last time, which basically froze her sentence – and her. Eventually she snapped back to reality, and told him, "You know, you can come and sleep with me tonight."

Her suggestion basically shook his nerves; he never imagined himself sleeping in her bed. He said in disbelief, "In your bed?"

"Of course. Where else would you sleep?"

"I don't know about this, Alex? Wouldn't I be taking up space?"

Alex was in no mood for any type of excuses, so she grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him to her bedroom, and said, "It is not up for discussion, Suzaku. I insist."

Ideally, he still did not want to sleep in the same bed as Alex, but his intuition told him otherwise, hinting out that objecting would not turn out well. Besides, Alex is a type of person who doesn't give up easily. So that was the end result of that discussion – Suzaku reluctantly obliged and followed her into her bedroom. Among the various places he has been around her apartment, he has never dared to step foot in her bedroom as he saw it as her number one place of privacy.

Time passed as he hovered over her bed, while Alex was in her bathroom getting ready to go to bed. He was highly resistant to even touch her bed spread, and by the time she got out, all she could wonder is why he is standing over the empty bed. This made her worry more than anything else, so she walked over to him and asked:

"Suzaku, why are you just standing there? How about sitting in it?"

"Yeah. Sorry, Alex. I just don't feel comfortable being in the same bed as you. It seems weird."

As she got under her sheets, she exclaimed, "What's so weird about it? Nothing is gonna happen. It is only two people sleeping in a bed, no need to worry. Now come on, time for bed."

Though he was still in doubt, Suzaku sighed and got into her bed. He wanted to make himself as transparent as he could, by doing that he surrendered enough space for her to roll around. He laid there awkwardly while Alex, within minutes, fell right to sleep. As for him, he was still awake. He tried to adjust himself to get comfortable as he could while at the same time, gave Alex her space – even though that was highly unnecessary for him to do.

 _The clock was a quarter to 2 am that night_ , Suzaku was able to fall asleep, unfortunately he was having a nightmare. As he was slept, all he could dream about was that dreaded day and the image of her bleeding and dying in his arms continued haunting him deeply. It was detailed and vivid, and he tried so hard to wake up from this nightmare. And about the very end, he saw Euphemia, rather than being tackled by police like in actuality, she pointed the gun right at his face – and pulled the trigger.

 _That was when he woke up;_  he was taking deep gasps, trying to catch his breath. His nightmare put awful thoughts in his head that screwed with him so thoroughly; he looked down and ran his fingers through his scalp, shaking his head to try and shake those thoughts out of his mind. And it started to make him wonder what if? He slowly lied back down, and stared at the ceiling for a minute or so; he turned around to the other side, and saw Alex sound asleep.

The one thing that gave him any type of assurance, was that Alex was alive and right beside him. He did not want to shed tears in front of her, so he inched closer to her and pulled her towards his chest. He never wanted any of this to happen to her, or even her squad – and he couldn't change what was already done, but he make sure that she was in his arms. He wrapped her arms around her and stroked her hair, thinking about what if it was him, instead of her? He didn't love Alex romantically, but he certainly loved her like a mother.

"I'm glad you're safe, Alex. I just wish I could repay in some kind of way." he whispered to himself, then slowly fell back to sleep. At least tonight, he did not have to worry.

* * *

_**The following day...** _

_Back in the squad room_ , the detectives spent the entire night speaking to Lelouch and Euphemia separately, in hopes that they might find something concrete. But as the hours passed by, they were unsuccessful in obtaining any information regarding the fraud investigation or anything else that might help. Fortunately for the detectives, Euphemia was still under the 24-hour rule, so that meant they were able to keep her in interrogation throughout the night.

And as far as Lelouch, he was able to leave whenever he wants – but at this point, it is clear to them that he has elected to stay in the precinct. He didn't answer any questions regarding his sister, nor any involvements that she may have. It has stressed them in many ways, and it ensured the detectives that they were not going to get anything tonight.  _The clock reached 10 am_ , as they allowed them to get some sleep, while they got some hours in themselves.

 _The time was about 10:22 am_ , when Munch and Fin returned to the interview room, where Lelouch was resting. They shook him around, waking him back up. He was intensely groggy when they woke him up, he was unable to detect his surroundings, and he was dizzy; but those effects would quickly fade away. He rubbed away the crust in his eyes, while Munch and Fin watched him trying to regroup.

"Hey, hey man. You good?" Fin asked the tired Lelouch; he presented him a cup and said, "Here you go. You took the liberty to go on a coffee run, if you want it."

Still tired, he was just good enough to understand him. He reluctantly accepted, "Thank you."

"We have food here if you're hungry." Munch told him, placing the bag in front of him.

He nodded, and took a large drink from his cup of coffee. Lelouch placed the cup down and asked the detectives, "So how long do you guys expect to keep me here?"

"Don't worry, hopefully not long." Fin replied, as he and Munch sat down in front of him, "So you told us about being a medical student, is that right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Another thing we found out is how your mother basically raised your friend for a while. So you two were living together for a while?"

"Me and Suzaku?" he exclaimed, "Yeah, I know. When we were around fourteen or so, he was living with us. So basically we were very close back then."

"How did you get into medical school anyways? Did you find some type of interest?" Munch asked him.

"To be honest, I hate medical school. But since I excel far greater than everyone, I see no reason to drop out." he told them, then looked away, "Besides, it's not like I had an option. Unlike Suzaku."

This caught their interest, in which Munch inquired, "How so?"

Lelouch got up from the couch, walking around and explained, "I won't bore you about some stupid nonsense about how my childhood was hell, okay? Growing up, it seems Mother spent a good amount of her time lecturing me to become a doctor, and encouraging Suzaku to be anything he wanted. It seemed as if Suzaku had more support, more options and about as much intelligence as me; in some way, I grew to be a little jealous of him?"

"So that's why you went out to spite him, by sleeping with his girlfriend?"

Then he went defensive, but didn't raise his voice. He objected, "Of course not! But between us three, I knew nothing of their relationship prior to that. After all, it nothing more than casual sex. She never bothered to tell me, but rather lied to me. But how she did it, was strangely justified."

"How is it justified?"

"I can't wrap my head around it, but it seemed as if Suzaku wasn't the only thing she was hiding from me." he explained much further, "On the contrary, whenever I asked her why she was doing this, she managed to shy away from the question. Still, I would never do anything like that to Suzaku, even if he did the same thing, two wrongs don't make a right."

"So in some ways, you were somewhat envious of him?" Munch assumed.

"In a way, yes." he nodded.

They decided to walk away from the topic and move on to something serious, in which Fin asked, "Why do you think Kallen came to your place one day?"

"Can you be more specific?" he exclaimed.

"Did you ever wake up one day and saw Kallen? And you were naked, but she wasn't?"

It took time for time to try and remember, but there was a distant memory lingering in his head – which he told them, "I remember one day, Kallen was trying to wake me up. I was naked for some reason, and she was asking me a lot of questions. A lot of the questions had something to do with Euphie, but I was to delirious to respond."

"And that's all you remember?"

Munch approached him and asked, "Did Euphemia come to your apartment that day?"

"She did. But I don't know what happened after that."

Munch and Fin were making progress, however they were concerned that Lelouch was having a tough time remembering what happened that evening. They looked at each other, didn't exchange a word and walked out the interview room. Watching them this time was Captain Cragen, who has been watching since the early hours of the day. He wasn't sure why his detectives abruptly left, so he walked out from his office to have a word with them.

"What the hell is going on? Why did you stop talking to him?" he argued.

Fin turned around and explained, "Captain, I don't think he remembers anything about it. It seems as if he was drugged that day."

"So we've wasted all this time for nothing?"

"I don't think so, captain." Munch chimed in, "It is possible that she has continuously been abusing him for some time. Chances are, he's not telling us."

Meanwhile, Elliot and Olivia walked out of interrogation as well; Elliot yawned deeply while Olivia stretched out after sitting and leaning all throughout the morning and night. They walked into the conversation between them and the captain, which gave them a little bit of concern as to what was the problem. It seemed very clear to them that Lelouch has been unable to tell them anything, which is why Olivia approached them and asked:

"What's going on? You haven't gotten anything from him yet?"

Cragen turned over to her and said, "Munch and Fin believes that he was drugged that day, and there might be a possibility that he doesn't remember."

"So basically, we got nothing else?" Elliot exclaimed, but then they started to hear cheers down the hallway. They look over and to their surprise, it was Alex – back in action, wearing her badge, holding her purse, and sporting a huge smile on her face. They were caught in disbelief, as they couldn't believe that she was back in the squad room.

"Alex, you're back." Cragen said, with disbelief.

She let out a smirk and remarked, "Of course I am. Why else would I be here?"

"Glad to see you back on your feet, Alex." Fin smiled.

"Thank you. You should have seen the applauds I was receiving when I got here. Not the only ones who are happy to see me."

Like them, Olivia was ecstatic to see her alive and moving like always. Which was why she ran over to her and gave her a hug, and told her, "Alex, I'm so happy you're alive. From what I hear, you were in serious condition last time I checked."

"Yes, luckily I was able to make a speedy recovery."

Elliot approached her and said, "We're glad you're back, Alex. But aren't you on mandatory leave?"

"I was but earlier this morning, they called me and said I could come back." she explained, "However, I have no plans to get out there just yet. As far as I know, I'm still not one hundred percent, so I'll be spending my time pushing paperwork, working with files, that sort of thing. To put it simply, I'll be doing desk work and handling paperwork."

They couldn't object to it, given the circumstances. Cragen nodded in agreement and said, "Well that's good. I don't need you to hurt yourself any more than possible."

"Yes, I know what you mean." Alex smiled; then noticed how run down the squad is right now, which she addressed, "But enough about me. What I'm wondering is, what is wrong with all of you? It seems as if you haven't had much sleep since I was gone."

"That is because we have been questioning Euphemia and her brother all night and morning." Elliot told the blonde detective, "She was again apprehended after the two got into a fight. As far as why Olivia is here, she is currently investigating her about a federal scheme she may be involved in."

Alex clenched her fists together when she heard her name; she wrapped her arms together and asked, "So you guys were able to catch a break. But what does her brother have to do with any of it?"

"We were questioning him about what happened," Fin walked over and explained, "But apparently we have reason to believe that her brother is possibly a rape victim. Me and Munch have been trying to see what he could give us, but he hasn't said anything as of yet."

"Needless to say detective, but we are very tired. Especially if our efforts are going nowhere." Barba groaned; he sounded depleted when he said it.

It was clear to her that they are tired, and need all the help they need right now. Alex unwrapped her arms and told them, "John, take a break. Me and Fin will talk to the brother."

"I have no objections to that." Fin shrugged in response, following the detective into the interview room.

Elliot and Olivia looked over, unsure of their next move. They turned their heads back over to Captain Cragen, and Olivia asked, "So what is our next move?"

Cragen looked around and replied, "Let's watch over. You two need less Euphemia right now."

 _Meanwhile_ , Detective Cabot and Sergeant Tutuola enter the interview room, where for the past several minutes, Lelouch has been searching around the entire room, scrolling through the books that were on the shelf. Unbeknownst to Alex, he was the person whom Kallen had been sleeping with – and he was unaware that she and Suzaku were friends. Fin walked back to the couch sitting right in front of him, while Alex laid back against the window.

"Hey!" he said, startling Lelouch, "What are you doing?"

"I didn't realize that you came back. I was just finding something to do, like reading a few of these books." Lelouch replied, looking down at the book he was holding; but when he looked up, he noticed Alex and asked him, "Hey, who is that woman sitting behind you?"

Stepping forward a few steps, Alex introduced herself, "I'm Detective Alexandra Cabot, pleased to meet you."

"Detective, this is Lelouch. We've been talking to him for a while, before you showed up." Fin told him.

"Where's the old guy?" he asked Fin.

"He's taking a little break, that's why Detective Cabot is here in his place."

Lelouch did not second guess this tactic, and calmly sat down on the couch. He asked them, "So what else do you want me to know? Since you're here."

Alex walked over a bit further and answered, "No, you don't need to know much. The reason I'm here is to talk about you."

"About me?" he inquired.

She sat down on the other couch, next to Fin and nodded, "Yes. About you. Now, I want to ask you about your sister for a minute?"

"What could you possibly need to know about her?" he scoffed.

"From what they told me, they said you and her are very close. But I need you to describe your relationship to me, if you will."

He looked down, shaking his head, and told the blonde detective, "We have a decent relationship."

"But there's more than that, isn't there?" Alex inquired, again startling him. She noticed how he reacted when she asked the question, and said, "Listen, Lelouch. I know that you feel some sort of shame, but please cooperate with me. I guarantee that you won't get in trouble."

"I suppose I could tell you a little." he reluctantly proclaimed. But despite that, Alex knew that there was something else than that; what ever he intended to say probably wasn't the truth, so she needed him to trust her.

Alex took a deep sigh, and asked, "Does the name Suzaku sound familiar?"

He nearly broke a sweat when he heard his name, so he looked up at Alex and replied, "Yes, he is my best friend. Or at least he  _was_."

"I know. He's told me a lot about you. Every word was positive." she told him, "Look, I know that you may feel like anything you tell us, you could get in trouble. But you aren't the one that's at fault – Euphemia is the one. She has done bad things, and from the looks of it, she has done the same thing to you."

"Impossible!" Lelouch angrily objected, "I don't know what you people are thinking, but my sister is not a bad person. I will not stand here and listen as your so-called detectives slander my little sister with your baseless accusations."

Upset and frustrated, Lelouch got up off the couch and was ready to walk out the door; however, Alex stopped him by putting her hand on his shoulder and said, "Lelouch, allow me to show you something."

Alex looked down and began unbuttoning her shirt, neither Lelouch or Fin knew what her motive was, but as she took it off, she showed Lelouch her bullet wounds. He was in near shock when he saw the nearly healed scars on her chest and started to wonder what was going on – or more rather, what happened?

"Some time ago, your sister came into our squad room." Alex explained, trying to hold back her anger, "We didn't know about her motive, until she pulled out a gun. Your red haired friend tried to stop her, but wasn't able too, and then pointed the gun at Suzaku. I knew then and there that he was in danger, so I jumped in and two straight bullets in the chest. I risked my own life, to save someone I cared about."

He was in sheer disbelief, as he looked down at her wounded self, and asked her, "Why would you do that?"

"Because it was not just my job to protect others, but I didn't want to see someone I cared about get hurt." she explained, "Was it worth losing my life over? Yes. And this is not biased – she is a bad person. She showed no remorse for what she did, and right now she is laughing about it. Now don't lie to me, I know that I'm not the only one affected. I can tell that she has done something to you."

Lelouch looked down and fell right back on the couch; he was determined that he'd never had to say it, but after seeing what happened to her, he told them, "A long time ago, before I moved here, I was fifteen as I was in the laundry room, minding my business. Until Euphie came in, wearing nothing but her underwear. She came over and started kissing me, and it escalated from there."

"What else happened that day?" Alex asked him.

"I placed her against the machines, holding her leg up and then we started doing it." he explained much further, "That was the last interaction I had with her until she came here to New York. One day, she suddenly surprised me in my apartment, and threw me on the bed and got on top of me. I told her to stop, but she laughed and removed my pants."

Watching and hearing from the other side, Olivia shook her head in disgust and exclaimed, "Oh my god."

Meanwhile, Fin asked him, "How long has she been sexually abusing you?"

"On and off for about two years." he stated. It was starting to get tougher as he went on, and revealed more to the detectives, "Not long ago, about a month or two later, she showed up in my apartment. Dragging me into my room, she threw me on the floor and got on top of me again. I tried to fight her off, but pinned me down and said if I took it like a good boy, then she would leave."

Alex and Fin were in complete disbelief, as Lelouch tried to hold back his emotions; but it was clearly visible as he slammed his fist into the table. Fin didn't realize that it would be this bad, and Alex couldn't help but hate her more than ever. Outside, Elliot and Olivia walked back into interrogation to speak to her about this, as Alex sat next to him and asked:

"Lelouch, I know how hard it must be. We've seen this too much before, but the one thing you can do is put her away. But first, how come you never filed charges?"

But suddenly, he propelled himself off the couch and yelled, "I can't do that to her! No matter how much I want to, I can't do this."

"Why not?"

He slowly steamed down and said, "What would I do if my family ever caught wind of this? I'm already considered a nuisance to my family, why would I say that my sister raped me? And even then, who would believe me? I don't care what you say, my situation is already bad enough, I'd lose my entire family if I ever did. Please understand that I can't do this. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take my leave."

Lelouch walked out of the interview room, leaving the detectives empty handed. While they were able to confirm what happened to him, because he is unwilling to file charges, that left the detectives with no other options left. Alex and Fin looked at each other with disappointment, and the two of them walked out the room as well. Cragen, Munch and Barba took this as another low blow, as they watched him leave the squad room, and they must now come up with a new game plan.

Cragen approached the detectives and asked them, "What happened in there?"

"Unfortunately, he refuses to file charges." Alex told their captain, "We tried to give him a convincing reason, but he left before we had a chance."

"So what do we do from here?"

"We don't know, captain." Fin shrugged; not even he had much of an idea.

 _As the detectives mulled over their next plan_ , Elliot and Olivia continued to talk to Euphemia, while trying not to fully reveal everything that they've just recently found out. Over the past several hours, they have tried to get her to say something contradicting which would give them ground. However she has not given them much in the time they've been speaking, in fact they have mostly been receiving the same thing over the past few hours.

Walking back and fourth behind her, Elliot continued questioning her, "Now according to a witness, they said you used to handle the information for the company and said that after you left the company, the files disappeared as well. Do you know anything about that?"

Euphemia had her arms and legs crossed as she calmly listened to them try and make her say anything, but as much as she wanted to continue playing with them, she got up and said, "Hate to break it to you, but you two are boring me. Your accusations and assumptions are clearly baseless, and your vague attempts to intimidate me is pointless. I'd rather not sit here while you try to make a case, based on hearsay. Good day, detectives."

As the pink haired woman was walking out the door, Olivia turned over and snidely remarked, "Oh we were just about to get to the part where you sexually assaulted your brother."

"What are you talking about?" she inquired.

"We recently discovered that you've been abusing your older brother sexually for the past couple years." Elliot told her.

She turned around, with new found interest and informed them, "I don't want to rain on your parade, but there is no way that Lelouch would ever accuse me of such a heinous act. Besides, who would believe such a story? Figure that out as I leave. Good-bye."

Saying nothing else, Euphemia exited the squad room altogether. With her gone, the only thing that was roaming inside both Elliot and Olivia was the intense disdain for that woman. They walked out the interrogation room empty handed, and worse enough they were greeted by the confused looks on their colleagues' faces. They did not have any idea of what was going on, let alone why they were giving them that look – but all it could say was it wasn't good news.

"Why are you looking at us like that?" Olivia asked the group, "Has Lelouch come forward?"

"Yes he has, but unfortunately he refuses to file charges." Barba told the brunette agent.

"Well let me talk to him, maybe I can knock some sense into him."

Cragen approached her slightly and chimed in, "Bad news. He left just a while ago."

This left them in a ditch that they weren't able to get out of, which had Olivia shaking her head and asking them, "So... what do we do now?"

None of them really had much of an opinion at the moment, but to break the silence, Alex shook her head and replied, "My advice is we just wait and see. Because I know that this is not over; it is clear to me that this is not the last time we will see them. That is how I look at it."

Though their efforts were literally for nothing, they still expected another opportunity to come along. But as much as they anticipate that, they still wonder about what will happen to Lelouch. Alex however, is far more worried about Suzaku more than anything. But things will soon hit the fan harder than they can ever expect.

* * *

**End of Chapter Fourteen**


	15. Separation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still distraught after what happened, Suzaku tries to do his best to protect Alex, potentially at the cost of their friendship.

_A month has passed since Euphemia got away, and since then, the detectives have tried to move on from it. But considering everything she has done, that wasn't an easy task. When you look at it, this period of events has majorly affected the squad in multiple ways: such as the shooting, the trial (and its outcome), and lastly the one other opportunity that they had to put her away, but failed to do so. Overall, the detectives has faced some wild obstacles in the past month or two, but for some reason – it wasn't over._

_Meanwhile, Alex is simply trying to move on after what happened; but often times, she worried that out of everyone affected during this period, Suzaku was perhaps the most stressed out person. She worries that he may not be taking it as well as she thought, she has wondered why every time Suzaku tried to make sure if she was okay, it sounded as if someone needed to tell him the same. It has been a long time since Alex has had another person to worry about, and it wasn't a good feeling._

_Perhaps why she worried the most about him, was probably because of how much he has impacted her life. She needed him as much as he needed her, and she wants to assure that he is always safe; whether it's Alex herself, or the detectives of SVU. Either one, he is assured safety and protection. But when you think about it, Alex and Suzaku both needed a friend; they've been done in similar ways, and they've struggled a lot after the fact – but they found companionship that helped them through it._

_However, when you think about it, what would happen if they never met? Or rather, what would it be like if they split from each other? Though it's not that prevalent, it is something that they've thought about and ever since their friendship flourished, that very thought has lingered inside of their minds – hopefully, it will not become a reality._

* * *

On a brisk day in Manhattan, with the leaves turning and falling, and people were starting to bundle up in winter coats, the detectives of Manhattan SVU were in the middle of a regular work day. It has been nearly two months since the accident that left Detective Cabot hospitalized, and they've had to live with the fact that Euphemia is still out there, probably still causing mayhem and madness with someone else. Something that they've tried to forget, but continues to bother them.

Aside from everything that has happened since the shooting, the entire squad was grateful that they had one of their own safe and sound. Though it was clear that they may never be able to catch her ever again, the only thing they expected is that she does one hiccup and they can try to pursue her. But as far as jurisdiction goes, that was merely a fantasy that will never happen. _But they can wait and see..._

Meanwhile, it has been approximately two weeks since Alex got into her recent assignment; the squad has a special room where all files go – basically meaning Alex is essentially doing desk work. Though this was something that Alex expected to happen sooner or later, she didn't didn't quite expect to be stuck in a room, with nothing but her temporary desk and thousands of files. It was silent, bright and hollow – and she was the only person in the room most often.

What she usually did was sorting out past files, and alphabetize the reports. That was just part of her job; but she mostly read case files and investigate them, perhaps more thoroughly than she and her colleagues do when in the squad room. Sitting in that desk, Alex tapped it repeatedly with a pen, trying to kill time. She looked around, and reached in her purse for a cigarette; she didn't smoke often or at all in recent years, but something in her mind strayed her from lighting it. Then she heard her phone ring...

She picked it up and noticed that it was an unknown number, so she didn't bother to see who was calling. But she started typing a text, which read, _'Suzaku, please meet me in the bar later tonight after you're out of school. Thanks, Alex.'_

She sent the text to Suzaku and exited the room, as she made it to her actual desk, she noticed Olivia sitting inside the captain's office. Alex wondered as to why she was back, thinking she either found some developing information about her case, or she was popping by for a visit. Alex shook her head and turned away, picking up her purse and walked out of the squad room. Meanwhile, Olivia was having a private conference with Captain Cragen and Sergeant Munch; something that neither they didn't expect.

In the middle of their conversation, Captain Cragen asked her, "So what do you need from our department this time?"

"I need you guys to help find the documents that will prove that Euphemia was involved in the scheme." Agent Benson told them, "According to my sources, she has the documents in her possession, but they are hidden. I need Barba to secure a search warrant for the files."

"Why are you asking _us_ to obtain a search warrant for you?" Munch inquired, "First of all, this is a federal investigation so it is not our obligation to find anything for the feds. Secondly, Barba can't obtain a search warrant since he doesn't have the jurisdiction, and you need to give him a reasonable argument to convince a judge."

"Munch, don't lecture me. All I need is your help in finding the files and perhaps get the warrant." she sighed.

As much as she did not want to hear it, Cragen told her, "Liv, I know you trust us to help you. But we had our chance to get her the first time, now all we can do is step aside. If you can get someone in the federal department to help in the investigation, then that would be great. But we have no standing in this case; if there is anyone you need to speak to about this, go over to Major Case and see if your luck turns around. Otherwise, I recommend trying to get someone else higher up to obtain your warrant."

"So that's it? You guys are basically throwing in the water here?"

"If you want, speak to the brass about it. But for now, we can not get involved."

Olivia scratched her scalp in frustration, and said, "I need to find those documents, captain."

"I know you do." he nodded, "But the very least you can do is be patience."

"Believe me, captain. My case is bigger than you might think." Olivia stated; from how she was acting, this was important to her in some way. Munch and Cragen could tell how imperative it was for her to solidify her case against Euphemia, but as far as evidence, it was a long shot.

* * *

_**Later that evening...** _

After taking the subway back to Manhattan, Suzaku looked to meet with Alex after receiving her text whist in class. It has been a while since the last time either one of them has called the other to meet up; secondly, it was also the first time in weeks since they've ever met in a bar. This was something that Suzaku, like every other time in the past, has not second guessed Alex's possible motive for bringing him out to a bar for some unexplained purpose; but he trusted her.

As he walked the rest of the way there, he had time to think about everything that has happened over the past several weeks. Every day, he thought about how Alex saved his life and nearly lost hers; it was a tough thing to face, and it was difficult for him to handle that fact. It was hard not to have a small flame ignite whenever he saw Euphemia, or heard her name, but it was useless for him to continue holding a grudge against her. After all, considering what happened between him and Kallen, it wasn't something to be concerned about.

He enters the building and notices Alex sitting at the bar, on the far side. She was sitting there waiting, with a cold bottle of beer in front of her; Suzaku approached her and saw how distracted she was, as she messed around with the beer bottle for a while, waiting for him to arrive. He did not wonder anything as far as why she called him back here, at this time of evening; nevertheless he walked over to the blonde detective and sat down next to her.

Alex did not move a muscle, nor did she turn her head. She was him through her peripheral, and greeted, "Glad that you showed up, Suzaku. Want a beer?"

She pushed the bottle his way; it was completely full and still frosty cold. Suzaku picked up the beer and replied, "Thanks a lot. At first I thought it was yours."

"Oh no, I don't drink." Alex told him; which did not make any sense at all.

"What do you mean you don't drink? I've seen you drink all the time." he rebutted.

"Yeah I know. But I don't drink when I'm upset, or depressed. Not anymore." Alex lightly explained, as she reach in her pocket and grabbed a carton of cigarettes. She looked up at the bartender and asked, "Is it okay if I smoke in here?"

The bartender replied, "Yeah, go ahead."

"Thank you." She said back. Alex lit up the cigarette and took a deep inhale, and looked up to take a long exhale.

Seconds after the bartender placed an ash tray in front of her, Suzaku looked over and asked, "Since when do you smoke, Alex?"

"On and off for a long time. I don't smoke a lot; if anything I smoke at least one carton over a six month span." she explained.

"So you're not a heavy smoker, just a moderate or occasional smoker?" he asked, which she responded with a simple nod. Suzaku turned away from Alex and asked, "So why did you call me out here this evening?"

"I just wanted to know how you were doing." Alex told him, "So how have you been doing? Doing well in school?"

"As a matter of fact, I am. Best case scenario, I may be able to graduate early."

"You know, most law students your age aren't able to graduate from law school. Consider yourself lucky." she stated, "You know, if you need any help with school, be sure to call me sometime."

Clearly this was unusual for him, because it seemed like something was on her mind. Which was why he said, "Alex, I know you didn't call me out her to talk about school. If there is something wrong, then you need to tell me what is going on. Otherwise, I don't see the point in me sticking around."

Alex did not want to tell him what was really going on, but in order to keep him here, she had to explain her motive, "Suzaku, I understand you don't want to be here, but the reason why I brought you out here is to let you know something. For some time, I've been worried about you since the first day we met, and I've been trying to look after you."

"What the hell does that suppose to mean?" he inquired.

"When I first saw you, I saw a lot of myself in you. And I realized that being with you, has captured a lot of my old youth – and some that I never had." Alex continued to explain, "I want to pass on a little advice. Being a lawyer is not all that cracked up to be; I've been an attorney for a long time, and each day I felt miserable. I tried to make some aspirations for myself, since I was already headed towards the path and then I realized that it's not worth it."

"So are you saying that I shouldn't pursue law anymore?"

Alex shook her head in disagreement and told him, "No. I don't want you to give up in your dreams. What I'm trying to say is, be sure you know what you want to be in life, and realize if it is right for you. I knew a long time ago that being an attorney wasn't what I wanted to be, and it was too late for me to realize that."

Placing his arm around her, Suzaku told her, "Look, I understand why you are worried of what I might become, but after I met you, it assured me that being a lawyer was the right career for me. I idolize you, Alex. I knew that if you can be a great prosecutor, then why not try to be like you?"

Alex chuckled at the very thought of it, and assured, "Don't be like me, Suzaku. Believe me, I've gone through so much in the past decade, _I_ don't want to be like me. But since you idolize me, maybe it couldn't hurt. Just as long as you do it right. Do you understand?"

"I suppose so." he nodded.

"That's good." Alex smiled; as she took out the cigarette, and grabbed her coat, she asked him, "Do you want me to drive you home?"

"No thank you, I know my way back home." he declined, staying right where he is. Alex shrugged and walked out of the bar, without saying anything back to Suzaku. It was tough for her not to say good-bye, and it was too late for him to say it as well. It was tough for him to look at her, especially after the dreaded incident and thinking about it now, all he truly wants is to make sure she is safe.

* * *

_**Three weeks later...** _

For the past three weeks, Suzaku has denied contact with Alex, ignoring her calls, texts and refusing to answer the door whenever she comes. Alex has wondered why he was rejecting her all of a sudden, but from what it looked like, it is possible that he is still being bothered by something. The squad started to grow some concern as he has also refused to make contact with the squad either, as he has not entered the squad room since the accident.

It seemed like something that they shouldn't get involved in, but seeing how he was behaving recently made them wonder if there was something wrong between him and Alex; even more so, they've also tried to reach Kallen in hopes that she knows something about it, but like them, she has had zero contact with him. It was strange, unjustified, and perhaps troublesome – they were able to rule out the idea that he may be dead, as the school confirmed that he still attends class.

Either way, the squad has had some problems actually getting him to talk to anyone. And for Alex, her concern for him grew larger each day. She wondered if it was something she said back at the bar a few weeks ago, or if he has simply grew tired of her. None of it made any sense to her, and she has been dying to figure out what is wrong with him. Still, if you looked at it in his perspective, it was probably better for them to deprive contact; hopefully, the situation isn't as bad as they thought.

Eventually, Suzaku returned to the squad room after the incident. He tried to resist having those very flashbacks that has been haunting him since; as he looked around the squad room, Sergeant Munch noticed him walking around aimlessly. He was mildly concerned that he might be having some type of problem, so he walked over to see what was going on.

"Hey? Suzaku, are you alright?" Munch asked him, "Is there something you're looking for?"

Suzaku sounded tired and worn out, as he replied, "I just felt like coming back, to do something."

Likewise, Munch asked no questions and led him to his desk; Suzaku sat down, with his elbow on the desk holding his head. Munch sat back down and asked, "So what going on? We haven't seen you in a while, we almost thought you were dead or something."

"Sorry for making you assume such things." he replied.

"Are you okay, Suzaku? It seems like you're being bothered by something."

He looked down and sighed, and he told him, "You see, sergeant. I've been troubled by what happened, and for some reason, I'm unable to move past it. I never wanted her to get hurt, and now I have to deal with the fact that she risked her life to save me. This is a mood I hate to be in, and now I'm trying to find my way."

Munch couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth – literally. But it didn't matter anyways, as Munch told him plain and simple, "Suzaku, quit self-loathing and listen. I know that you blame yourself for what happened to Alex, and we all feel your guilt, but you weren't the one that caused any of this to happen, so stop blaming yourself. We were there and we couldn't do anything, but we don't blame ourselves for what happened. And neither should you."

"Do you really think so?"

"Absolutely! I know that you want to pay her back for what she did for you, but obsessing over it will not help you move on. All Alex wants from you, is respect and be grateful for her act. Otherwise, she did it all for nothing. If you can cut down on the drama, then you can move past it and fix what was damaged. Understand what I'm saying?"

From the way Munch put it, he was absolutely right. Realizing how bad he has stressed himself out, he was able to understand entirely. So he got up and told him, "Thank you, Sergeant Munch. I know that I may not be able to pay her back, but still, I think there is only one way to assure her safety."

"What would that be?" he asked. But Suzaku walked away without saying another word; as he was about to exit the squad room, Alex walked in and noticed him. She was skeptical that it was him, but knew that was him; so she had to go and approach him.

"Suzaku, wait!" Alex yelled out, running to try and catch him. She was successful, catching him before he could make his way to the elevator.

He turned around and replied, "Alex, what a surprise. Do you mind if we talk in private for a minute?"

Alex didn't know what he was trying to do, but she shrugged and answered, "Sure, where do you want to go?"

He turned around and led her into one of the empty interview rooms. She did not understand what his motive was, especially after he has ignored for three weeks straight up until today. As they were finally alone, he stood there not saying a word, which begun to confuse and worry her. For a while, she couldn't tell what was going on, since he refused to tell her anything in the past few weeks. She didn't know what to expect in this situation, but after three weeks of no contact, she was curious to find out.

As she closed the door, she said to him, "It's been a while since we've spoken. You haven't answered my calls, my texts, I've tried going to your apartment and you wouldn't answer. I'm curious, what is going on with you recently?"

Suzaku was turned away from Alex, unable to look at her. But her turned back around, and sighed; finally telling her, "Alex, first I want you to know that I'm sorry for ignoring you recently. I've been going through a lot of things that perhaps you might not understand."

"What do you mean? I would understand completely." she rebutted.

"Let me say this before I go on," Suzaku begin to explain, "When I met you, I felt as if you were a void that I've never had the chance to fill. You treated me so gingerly, it has been overwhelming. You've given me comfort and companionship during my tough times. I never imagined myself being friends with someone like you, and I've loved every moment we've spent together."

"What are you talking about?" she inquired; obviously she was confused.

Suzaku suddenly approached her; face to face, he held her hand and told her, "Alex, you are the most important person in my life. Every day I worry that you might have gotten hurt in your line of work, and I've been happy that you make it out without a scratch. However, ever since what happened months ago, I don't know if it is worth it."

"What are you trying to say, Suzaku?"

He held her hand tighter, and said, "I don't think we should be friends anymore."

Those very words made her heart beat irregularly, and it threw her in a state of disbelief. Alex tried to dispel his comments, "What do you mean? Clearly you don't mean that."

He looked down and replied with heavy heart, "Yes, I meant it. Every word."

Slowly, Alex started to hyperventilate a bit as she tried to hold her emotions. She asked with discontent, "Why? Why would want this?"

"I just don't feel like I should be around you anymore. I feel as if in the past months, I've been nothing but a burden to you." Suzaku explained, "And when you got hurt saving my life, I couldn't bare the pain I've been holding inside. Seeing you like that, was something I never wanted to see. All I want is your complete safety."

"But what about you?!" Alex argued, her tone expressing how upset she was, "I don't want you to get hurt either. Why not think about what you're doing? I know you feel some regret for what happened, but it's not worth ending our friendship over."

"I'm sorry, Alex. But at this point, I shouldn't be the one worth dying over. Neither is your co-workers. I care about you deeply, that's why I can't be around you anymore."

"But why?" she said, simmering down but on the verge of crying, "I don't want you to do this."

Suzaku rubbed his forehead, and told her, "I've lost so many things in my life, why does it matter? I only want this, so you don't have to risk your life for me. I can't let you get hurt again, so please understand what I'm trying to do. I don't want this either, but I'll be one less burden in your life."

This was tough for Alex, who was started to tear up. She tried her best to hold back her tears, as she asked him, "What about me? I need you more than you need me."

He let go of her hand and told her, "Don't you understand? This is for you. This is my way of assuring that you'll never get hurt again for my sake."

Suzaku walked out of the room, just as upset as she was. Alex couldn't believe that this was happening again, and she couldn't change his mind. It was the hardest thing he has ever had to do, especially to someone he cared for. But before he could close the door, Alex turned around and asked him with tears in her eyes:

"Will I ever see you again?"

He looked down and thought about it, and answered, "One of these days, I guess. Good-bye, Alex."

Exiting the squad room without allowing the people to see his face, Suzaku now had to live without his best friend. He's dealt with so much in the past, such as losing his father, moving to a new place, losing his first girlfriend, discovering that his next one has had an affair, and now, he leaves the squad room single, parent less, and lastly with no friends. Suzaku didn't think it was worth it, and clearly he still wanted to her to be his best friend – but to keep her safe, this was his one option.

Nobody in the squad room knew what was going on, as Alex walked out – with a glass eyed expression, and walked away from everyone to be alone in private. Fin, who was sitting behind his desk, noticed immediately that something was wrong and that something happened in there, so he followed her to see what was going on between her and Suzaku. Like with Olivia in the past, he knew when someone was upset and this was one of those cases.

Alex stopped and looked around, to see if anyone was there (unaware that Fin was following her). She took off her glasses and fell to her knees, and starting sobbing uncontrollably. She did her best to keep herself quiet, but emotionally it didn't matter. It was the first time in a long time that Alex has ever felt this way, while she put her hands on her face and continued crying. Fin watched from afar, and in disbelief; he's never seen her cry and from the looks of it, he needed to go comfort her.

He walked over to her slowly and quietly and said, "Alex?"

Alex was startled and quickly tried to wipe away her tears before she faced him. But she did respond, "Fin, what are you doing here?"

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She got up from the floor, and faced him with tears still on her face. She was momentarily silent then replied, "Yes, I need to get something off my chest."

"Alex, tell me what is going on." Fin told her bluntly; obviously he did not buy into her excuse.

She took a deep inhale and explained to him, "Suzaku doesn't want to be in my life anymore. He throwing away our friendship, over what happened."

"Why the hell would he do that?"

Alex scoffed and answered, "Beats me. Besides, why shouldn't he? It's not like I feel pain too after jumping in to save his ass."

"You don't mean that. Do you?" He rebutted, then Alex turned away from him, trying not to break down in front of him.

"Of course I don't. Why would he do something like this? Why would he give up on the one person he has?"

Fin didn't know a lot about their relationship to begin with, but he understood what he was going through. So he tried to explain, "From what it sounds like, it seems he's feeling deep regret for you getting shot. I know, because I experienced it myself. So I understand what he's going through, and from what it seems like, he's only trying to make sure that you never have to do something like that again. I'm not saying you had it far worse, but Suzaku struggled after that. It's not something you can forget."

"Then why would he dump our friendship?" asked Alex.

"I can't understand his motive, but he probably thinks it's better that you two spend some time off. Maybe he can get his mind right until then."

"You know what? It's not just Suzaku, it's probably everything else."

Fin was curious about what she talking about, so he asked, "What do you mean, Alex?"

"It's everything that's happened since I came to SVU." she told him, them explained, "When I came here as an ADA, I was eager to prove that I can become a great prosecutor. But over time, I realized that this is not the type of job I want. And when I left the DA's office, I was happy that I was able to start my life anew, but it seemed like everything started crashing down on me. That is probably why I see so much of myself inside of Suzaku, that's why I wanted to guide him."

"That's why you decided to go out with him that day?"

Alex sighed and explained further, "Certainly. And it wasn't until now was when I realized how much I've dealt with. I've lost my parents, I've been bullied, I've had to become someone I wasn't, I was shot twice, thrown into witness protection, almost lost all of my friends, I've even lost every lover I've had. I was forced to become a lawyer, and as soon as I became a detective, I nearly lost that too. So much has happened, and I still wonder if it's worth it."

"What makes you think that?" he asked.

"I've been struggling for a long time. After everything that has happened, I'm nothing more than a hollow woman." Alex told him, with disappointment in her voice, "Sometimes, I wonder how much I have left. More rather, I've asked myself, _'Do I really deserve to be here?'_. That is something that has lingered in my head for a long time."

"Alex, what the hell do you mean you don't deserve to be here?" he exclaimed, "I know you don't think that you don't think you should be here, but look at yourself. You deserve to have this job more than anyone, let nobody tell you otherwise. I know you, Alex. First of all, let me see your badge."

She asked no questions and simply took off her badge and handed it to Fin, where he would show it to her and say, "This badge. You worked hard for this badge, you gave up your life as an attorney to come back here and help victims and strive for justice. You deserve to be here, and this badge is proof."

Fin gave her back her badge, which practically shined some light onto her (figuratively), and realized what her purpose was. She smiled and said, "Thank you, Fin. I appreciate it."

"Now as far as Suzaku, I don't know what's going on with him. But I advise giving him some time, sooner or later he'll come back to you for help because you're all the help he has. Remember that and remind yourself that your friendship is not over."

Alex nodded and replied, "Thank you so much for that. At least I have you guys to turn too."

Fin didn't say anything, but brought her back into the squad room. Everyone looked over to see what was wrong with her, and seeing how happy she was now, they knew that Fin was able to cheer her up. They were provided assurance that she is okay. Captain Cragen watched the conversation between her and Suzaku, and secretly listened to her conversation with Fin. He was always worried about his detectives, since the job becomes too much for them, and it made him glad that Alex had a smile on her face.

* * *

_**The following day...** _

During another work day, Detective Stabler was sitting quietly at his desk, doing his usual work. He was around yesterday evening when Alex was alone, crying; he also wanted to help her and see what was wrong, but Fin already beat him to it. Though he was glad that Alex was fine, he knew that there could have been more that he could've done for her. The sun was setting on another day in the SVU squad room, as the clock was near 6pm that day – until someone approached him.

While Elliot was stacking papers together, Kallen suddenly appeared, slowly approaching the detective. She tapped on his desk and said, "Detective Stabler?"

He looked up and noticed her standing in front of his desk. He didn't know why she was back in the precinct, and the worse case scenario was also unsatisfactory. But Elliot turned over to her and replied, "Kallen? What are you doing here? Is there something you want?"

"Detective, I don't know why I'm here. I don't know if it's worth asking."

"What are you talking about?"

Kallen placed her hand on his desk, looking around in the semi dark squad room, and asked him, "Detective Stabler, I need your help. I don't know who to go to, and I'm not sure if I should ask. But I've been trying to fight this for a while, but can I talk to you about something?"

Elliot was skeptical, yet curious as to what she wanted from him, which he asked again, "Okay? What do you want to talk about?"

"It's about Suzaku." she revealed, which surprised the detective, "I know that you already heard about what I did to him, and I can't go to anyone else about it. And I need you help."

His eyes widened a little, once she revealed that she wanted to speak about Suzaku. He knew that this was none of his business, and he still had the option to reject her request. But from the look in her eyes, it was perhaps very important. _Maybe he'll discover what really happened._

_**Meanwhile...** _

The same evening, Suzaku returned once again to an empty apartment. As he took the subway home, he felt a immense amount of regret for dumping his only stable friendship; in many ways, he believed that he could have done it better than he did, he believed that he could have found another way to deal with everything he's dealt with. Likewise, it all came at a huge cost – he gave up his best friend, he can never show his face in the SVU squad room again, and he has nobody to turn too.

As he threw his bag on the couch, he went into the closet to put his coat away – _until he heard something_ – For some strange reason, he felt as if... he wasn't truly alone. He looked out and saw nothing out of the ordinary, and just placed his coat in the closet as usual. But then he started to hear some rustling coming from a distance; it didn't sound as if it was coming from the hallway, but more rather if there was something inside the apartment.

This is when Suzaku got suspicious, but also afraid – he slowly walked back in the living room and looked around. He called out, "Hello? Is someone here?"

* * *

**To Be Continued – End of Chapter Fifteen**


	16. Vulnerable

_Sometimes things happen. That may sound negative but regardless, it is true. My life is once again without Alex, and all I can do is deal with it; I can understand that everything happens for a reason, but at the same time, I sincerely believe that there are some things that shouldn't ever happen. But yet again, these things happen for various reasons and neither I or Alex can prevent them. I shouldn't have told her that this was for her, because in some way, this was probably for me._

_I know for a simple fact that everything I said, was only to protect myself. Could that really be true? Am I really afraid that if I attach myself to her, I may lose her like Euphie, Lelouch and Kallen? Am I just a wuss that can't protect himself, no matter how well I can fight? Can I prove to myself that perhaps I can survive without her? None of these questions I can't fully wrap my head around, because I can't say for certain that these things are true. But like I said, sometimes things happen – and there is nothing you can do about it._

* * *

_**-We now return to the story-** _

The events before and after Alex's shooting has caused Suzaku to suffer for as long as he could take, until he decided to end his friendship with Alex, something that tore her up to a great extent. He didn't want it like this at all, and he wished that he could take back everything he said, so he can live with her one more day. But he is without her and he wishes that he can return to apologize, but he believed that they needed some time away from each other. _But right now, there was something else._

As he came back to his apartment, Suzaku noticed something off as he returned. As he put away his coat, he heard something coming from the living room, something that obviously caught his attention. He slowly walked into the living room and investigated the situation, looking around to see what is going on. He was worried and suspicious about what was lurking in his apartment, he searched around the entire room and surprisingly, nothing was there.

Suzaku stood in place as he said to himself, "Huh? No one is here. It's probably my head playing tricks with me."

Then out of surprise, as he was about to turn around, he is grabbed from behind, with arms wrapped around his throat. Startled, Suzaku tried to shake the person off – however, his mouth is covered with a wet rag; he tried as hard as he possibly could to dislodge this person's hand from his mouth, but he slowly started breathing the fumes that were coming from the rag, and within moments, Suzaku slowly lost conciseness and fell hard onto the floor.

As Suzaku laid on the floor unconscious, it turned out that the attacker was Euphemia, who was holding the rag and a bottle in her hand. She grinned while staring at his unconscious body and remarked, "Oh don't worry, Suzaku. Your head is not the one playing tricks on you."

_Meanwhile_ , inside the SVU squad room, Kallen surprises Detective Stabler late in the evening to confess something to him. Elliot didn't know what was going on with her, nor did her really care to begin with, but he knew that it might have something to do with Alex and Suzaku. He couldn't tell for certain and he could not determine if she is just here to waste his time, or she wanted someone to talk to. Nevertheless, she wasn't going anywhere soon.

Elliot leaned back in his desk chair, and asked the red headed woman, "So what can I do for you this evening?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Suzaku, if you mind." she told the detective.

Unfortunately for her, he had zero intention of listening to any of it, which he addressed, "Young lady, I know you want to talk about him but to be honest, I don't care."

"I understand you don't want to listen to it, but I have no one else to go to. I can't speak to anyone I know about this, neither can I explain myself to Suzaku, without revealing anything. At least with you, I know that I can trust you when I tell you."

"Tell me what?"

Kallen looked up and replied, "About what happened between me and Suzaku, and how Euphemia is mixed in all this."

This caught his attention more than anything, and suddenly this interested him. Elliot dropped the pen he was tapping repeatedly, and inched a bit closer to Kallen. He told her, now intrigued, "Okay, now I want to hear a little of this. Now from what I heard, you were the one who cheated on him, right?"

"Yes, it was me." she nodded.

"Would you mind explaining yourself?"

She took a large exhale, remaining silent for a little while. Until then she explained, "You see, several months ago, I was walking over to my friend Lelouch's apartment. I entered the place trying to borrow something and perhaps have a little chat, but he didn't answer the door. I waited for him to return, so I walked into the villa behind his apartment building. And then I saw them, she was kissing and touching him. The very sight of it still angers me."

Elliot nodded as he heard her explanation, but none of it seemed relevant to him, "Okay. Now what does that have to do with you?"

"I knew that Lelouch didn't want too, I could see him trying to resist." Kallen continued explaining, "I knew that it had to end when I discovered what she did to his ex-girlfriend. She made her disappear, so I didn't want him to get involved in such a relationship, so one day, I came to him and offered myself to him."

"And are you sure that's what happened?" he asked.

"Of course! I've seen them plenty of times to know what was going on." she argued, however Elliot had a difficult time believing her.

He leaned back into his chair and asked her, "How sure are you that he actually was in a relationship with his sister?"

Kallen looked at him right in the eyes, and stated, "Let me clarify something for you. What she was doing to him, that was _not_ a relationship.

The detective nodded a bit and asked another question, "Okay, now answer this: What made you think that sleeping with him would keep her away?"

She took another exhale and explained, "I noticed how out of the ordinary he acted before I found out, I knew he wasn't the same person. And when I discovered what she was doing to him, I realized that he was being controlled. So that is why I went and slept with him, so he could finally start thinking straight. And it worked: he started acting normally when I started sleeping with him and I knew that he would be able to stay away from her, if I just told him too."

"So she was controlling him through sex, so you decided to do something similar in order for him to start thinking correctly and have him stay away from her?" Elliot summarized, trying to understand all of this correctly.

"Exactly. I feared that it could get far worse if I allowed it to continue any longer."

Elliot started understanding her motives, and despite the fact that she could have done a different method, he needed to ask her another question, "Okay. So you were trying to look out for your friend, that I understand. But the question I'm trying to figure out is why you never told Suzaku any of this? Couldn't you at least tell him what was going on and what you intended to do?"

She looked away from the detective, trying to run away from the question; but she couldn't get past it, so she answered, "It's tough to explain, Detective Stabler. But it was all to keep him out of it. When Euphemia came to New York, I noticed how odd she was acting when I saw her. She and I used to be good friends, but she changed when I started dating Suzaku. When I found out what she was doing to Lelouch, I didn't want him to find out."

"Why did you not want him to find out?" he inquired.

"I didn't want him to know what his best friend was doing, and I couldn't let him know that Euphemia was in the city. So I hid it from him, because I knew that she would do something bad to him. For quite sometime, she had held a grudge against him. I didn't know what it was about, but when I found Lelouch's ex-girlfriend, I discovered that she was planning something."

Elliot raised an eye brow by this revelation, and realized that something bad happened. He asked the red head woman, "What happened to her? Was she murdered?"

"One day, Euphemia came home covered in blood. I asked her what was she covered in, and she replied that it _was just paint that was splashed on her_. I don't know if she killed her or not, but I knew she was up to something. And that was the day I moved out, and went to Manhattan."

"Did you fear that she may come after you, when you and Suzaku started dating?"

Kallen turned her head back over to Detective Stabler, and replied, "In all five years I was with him, every day I feared that she would murder me, Lelouch or Suzaku."

"So you found her body, you saw what looked like blood all over Euphemia. Did you ever go to the police about this at any point?"

"I did. They interviewed me when I found the body, and I told them about my roommate being covered in blood." Kallen revealed to the detective, "But to this day, they never solved the case. I searched every day in the news about it, and never once did they mention anyone being charged."

"So everything you did was only to protect them?"

"I wouldn't lie to you, detective." Kallen assured, shaking her head.

"Was it true that you saw her with an unconscious Lelouch?"

"Did that prosecutor tell you? Because if he did, it's true. But she told me something when I was with her?"

He leaned closer to her and asked, "Told you what?"

_Meanwhile_ , Alex was standing from a safe distance, watching and eavesdropping on the conversation. She didn't understand why Kallen was back in the precinct, and though she was still heartbroken over what happened between her and Suzaku, she thought it had something to do with him. But she didn't understand why she was explaining any of it to Elliot, instead of her. She slowly approached, without being noticed and slowly walked into the captain's office, as she continued watching.

Elliot was nearly shocked when he heard the alleged quote, and asked her with disbelief, "Are you sure that is what she told you?"

"I'm completely honest, detective. She plotting something, and I've been trying to figure out what." she confirmed; but then she asked him another question, "Detective Stabler, can I ask you a question? Do you think if I explained myself to Suzaku, then he would be able to forgive me?"

"I don't know. That is something you're better off doing on your own."

"Okay then." she nodded, writing down a number for the detective, "Here. Try calling him and see if he can come back in the precinct."

Elliot took the paper and replied, "Sure, now go home and get some rest."

She said nothing else and walked calmly out of the squad room, now that she was gone, Alex came out of hiding and approached Elliot, trying to get some information from him. She tapped his desk and asked, "Hey, what was she doing here?"

He turned around in his desk chair, and replied, "She wanted to talk to me about something."

"About what? Did it have something to do with Suzaku?"

"Yeah, a little. But it's between us. Sorry, Alex but she wanted me to keep quiet about it."

Alex nodded in response and walked away, Elliot started to think about everything she told him and how everything escalated between them. He believed her in some ways, and knew that she wouldn't just come over just to lie about it – he could tell by her expression that she was telling the truth, and realized that perhaps it was appropriate to tell Suzaku the truth about Kallen; not to bring them back together, but to ease the tense between them. Elliot looked at the number she gave him, so he turned back over to his desk to call him.

* * *

_**-Meanwhile-** _

_**(Trigger Warning. Continue at your own risk)** _

During the remainder of Kallen and Elliot's conversation, Suzaku was in serious danger at the moment. After being knocked unconscious, he slowly started to regain conciseness; but when he did, it was already too late. The moment his vision returned, he noticed that he was in his bedroom; assuming that he fell asleep, he tried to get out of bed – but there was one problem, he couldn't. Suzaku was handcuffed to the backboard of the bed, and so were his ankles.

As hard as he possibly could, he tried to break of the handcuffs or very least, the rope that was tied to his ankles, but he couldn't. He didn't know what or why this was happening to him, and he wanted to get out of this before it got worse. But as he struggled against it, to his very surprise, Euphemia walked out of his bathroom, holding a bottle and rag. She smiled at him, while he was in shock over the fact that the culprit turned out to be her.

Euphemia walked over slowly and stood over him, and remarked, "So you're finally awake? That's a relief, because I thought I used too much. Ah how I love using chloroform, can't beat the classics, am I right?"

She intentionally drops the bottle and rag on the floor, and while trying to break free, Suzaku asked her, "Euphie, what the hell is going on!?"

She sat down next to him and placed her hands on him, whispering, "No need to worry. But you should stop resisting, you'll only get hurt."

"What are you doing? Get me out of this!"

She gave him a stern expression, and inched close to his face and told him, "You're not going anywhere, Suzaku. This is between you and me."

And then, Suzaku's phone started ringing. She looked at him, and looked at his phone. Euphemia smiled at him once again, and picked up the phone from the dresser. _Elliot dialed Suzaku's number, which he obtained from Kallen. He wanted to tell him something, but judging from the fact that it was about his ex-girlfriend, he probably didn't need to hear it. But that was the least of his problems._

_The call was answered, but no response came soon after and Elliot said, "Hello? Suzaku, are you there?"_

Euphemia silently giggled and replied, "Hello, detective. So nice of you to call."

_The moment he heard her voice, all emotion fell off his face and exasperated, "What the hell are you doing with his phone?"_

"Oh nothing. Suzaku is a little tied up right now, so I thought I'd answer the phone for him."

" _Where are you?"_

She looked around his bedroom, and said, "Oh I'm in his home, having a good time right now. Why not join us? Right, Suzaku?"

The phone was on speaker, so he shouted out to the phone, "Detective Stabler! Help me!"

_Hearing him is distress, Elliot yelled out, "Suzaku, is that you?! What the hell are you doing with him!?"_

"I'm not doing any to him. Yet." she smirked, hanging up the phone and throwing it across the room.

_Meanwhile, as the call dropped dead, Elliot yelled out, "Hello? Hello! Damn it." He bolted out of his desk chair and grabbed his coat, his keys and ran out of the squad room._

As he tried to save him, Euphemia was enjoying her position while she watched him try to break out of the handcuffs. She enjoyed the fact that he was still trying to break away, and she loved every second of it. She backed away from the bed, and went over to pick something up.

Suzaku yelled out to her, "Euphie, what is going on? What are you trying to do?"

She turned around and walked back, this time with a knife in her hand. She sat next to him on the bed and told him in a soft tone, "It depends. At this point, I can do just about anything to you. I can... cut your face, slice your wrists, break your legs, I can do just about anything to you. But what I'm trying to do, is a secret."

"So what's your plan? Keep me here for ransom?"

She smiled again and explained, "I don't want money, Suzaku. What I'm interested in is _you_."

Euphemia got up momentarily, and walked back on the bed, now on her knees. She placed herself above him, and started down at him. Euphemia placed the knife on his face and slowly slid it across his cheek; she got a bit of fulfillment by doing that. She sat down on his legs and grabbed his shirt, and ripped it open piece by piece with her knife. Suzaku couldn't do anything about, all he could do was watch her rip his shirt off his body and tear the sleeves off his arms.

Still holding the knife, she leaned down and started kissing his neck, while rubbing her hand all over his chest. This was making him uncomfortable, and he tried to tell her to stop – but he was frozen and couldn't do anything about it. And then she moved down to his chest, and dragged her tongue up and down his chest. It didn't feel right to him, he tried to shake her off but the moment he moved, she put the knife against his throat.

Suddenly she stopped – and Euphemia raised back up, and told him, "You want to know something? You could have submitted to me long ago, you could have been around when I needed you but as it turns out, you are just one of them."

"What do you mean _one of them_?"

"You don't need to bother yourself about that," she replied, moving her hands down to his pants, "What you'll need to worry about what I'll do to you. And you know something? Nobody will come to save you in time."

"That's when you're wrong."

"I'm wrong am I? So I bet they would mind if I hurt you a little?"

"You won't get away with this!" he snarled; but Euphemia took her hands off his pants and started unbuttoning her blouse, staring at him in the eyes with lust. Throwing it on the floor, the next thing that came off was her long skirt, and lastly her bra; the only thing she left on were her underwear.

She leaned back down, and started kissing him again. This time, in the mouth. She knew he couldn't stop her, and she was loving the way he resisted her. He hated it, he didn't want for this to happen but all of a sudden, it was happening to him. She looked down at his pants again, and violently tried to yank them down, but fortunately Suzaku did his best to cross his legs. She fought with him for a while, and as hard as she tried, she couldn't bring them down.

However, Euphemia picked up the knife and placed it back on his throat and growled, "I don't want to kill you, but if you keep resisting, then I have too."

Catching him off-guard, she quickly pulled his pants down to his tied up ankles. And with zero hesitation, she inserted it inside of her. He felt a bit of pain as he was involuntarily inside of her, she started breathing heavily by how good it felt and began moving up and down. Euphemia got faster, which prompted him to try once again to break out of it or at least, shake her off; but she sunk her nails into his arms to hold on and keep on going.

Time flies by, and Suzaku was on the verge of tears as he couldn't stop this from happening; he looked away and all he could hear was her incessant moaning. She opened her eyes and looked down, moving his head so he could face her. She got rough and fast, pulling his hair and used it to pull his head close to her, she was scratching his arms and chest and holding his nose as she kissed him again.

She separated the kiss and asked, "Don't pretend you're not enjoying this. Your mouth lies, but your body tells the truth. Aren't you enjoying this?"

"I'm not! Let me go!" Suzaku demanded. He wasn't in the position to demand anything.

"Why should I? Nobody is going to stop me. Not you, Kallen, those cops, and especially not your friend Alex." she laughed, going slightly softer as she asked, "Tell me, how do I feel? Do I feel better than Alex? Don't be modest, Suzaku. I know how bad you want to bang her; in fact, from the way you look right now, you already did."

"I would never!" he objected.

"Yes you would. Besides, why not? She's not a bad piece of ass, anyone would want to get between her legs, even you."

He tried to respond, but she covered his mouth as she was close to finishing. That's when she got faster, to the point where he was getting sore. His screams were muffled by the cloth, and Euphemia wanted more of him, the way he struggled turned her on, and as he screamed help from the rag, she froze up on him. It looked like she was about to have a seizure, and she was panting hard. Suzaku sniffled a bit, realizing that it was too late for him. She dropped her head down, still on top of him and still panting hard.

After a few moments, she raised her head up, sweaty and satisfied, and smiled, "You're the best. I've felt like that in a long time, do you mind if I clean you up?"

* * *

_Several minutes later,_ Detective Stabler bolted to the door, trying to save Suzaku. He kicked the door repeatedly, due to the fact that the door was practically rock solid, and with one more hard kick, he knocked it off the hinges. Quickly, Elliot pulled out his gun and looked around the apartment. He saw nothing but a broken coffee table and blood on the carpet; he pointed his gun around, and continued his search. He wasn't going anywhere, he knew that he was still in the apartment, and if he was correct, he may still be alive.

To try and locate him, Elliot yelled out, "Suzaku! If you can hear my voice, then yell."

The only thing Elliot could hear, was his muffled shrieks coming from the bedroom. Elliot acted quickly, racing into the locked bedroom; he looked around to see if there was no one behind him, or hiding and he wasted no time and kicked the door down violently. The moment he entered his bedroom, he was in complete horror of what he was witnessing. He found Suzaku tied up, naked and with a rag in his mouth, Elliot didn't put away his gun, but ran over to tend to him.

Elliot yanked the duct tape and rag off his mouth and said, "Suzaku! Are you alright?!"

Out of surprise, Euphemia replied, "Oh don't worry about him, Detective Stabler. He's just fine."

The second he looked up and saw her standing there naked, Elliot was fueled with rage and discontent; he glared at the pink haired woman, "What the hell did you do to him?"

Euphemia took her time to answer him, by picking her clothes off the bed and floor, and told him whist getting dressed, "I didn't do anything to him, in particular. But I do say that he and I had a marvelous time together. He felt good inside of me, even though there was a struggle, but I made sure he enjoyed it too. Trust me detective, this night was so passionate, I made sure that he'll certainly remember this moment for a long time."

"You bitch, you raped him. Didn't you?"

She cocked her head to the side and replied, "Oh please, detective. I wouldn't describe it like that. But I guess if you think about it, maybe it was. What's the point of asking questions?"

"How dare you!" he growled, "You violated an innocent man, exactly like you did the same to your brother."

"Lelouch voluntarily gave it up to me, but Suzaku was a tough one to grab." she smiled while inching closer to him, "Tell me, Detective Stabler. How does it feel to not be able to protect others? Your entire purpose is to stop sex crimes, but you as a sex crimes detective, failed to save him from the likes of me. If you were here sooner, perhaps you could have been a part of the fun."

Elliot held a tighter grip on his gun, and placed his finger on the trigger, prepared to shoot her in the head. He said to her, "You better give me one reason _**not**_ to shoot you in your face?"

She doesn't not respond, but rather raised her wrists and said, "Is it time for us to go somewhere, detective?"

Not so much as putting down his gun, Elliot reached behind his pocket for his handcuffs. Euphemia showed no resistance and willingly turned around so he could place the handcuffs around her wrists; she looked over to Suzaku and stared into his eyes, which fueled him with nothing other than disdain. He never thought he could ever hate her, but the way she smiled and glared at him, angered him to a great extent. Elliot handcuffed her to the bed so he can remove the cuffs from Suzaku.

_Some time later_ , there were more police on the scene as one police car escorted Suzaku to the hospital, while Euphemia was placed in the back of Elliot's Crown Victoria, until more reinforcements arrived; he was soon joined by Captain Cragen and Sergeant Tutuola, who noticed how angry he was at the moment. And all Elliot could do was watch as CSU scoured the apartment for evidence, and had the painful sight of watching Suzaku being taken to the hospital.

Captain Cragen approached his detective and asked, "Elliot, is there something wrong?"

He does not respond, and all he could do, was take his Crown Victoria and drive Euphemia back to the squad room, as he held a large cloud over his head. Fin looked at the captain with concern, because from how it looked, something terrible happened to Suzaku, something that Elliot was unable to prevent.

"What's wrong with him, captain?" Fin asked him.

Cragen looked over and answered, "It's regret. Something happened to Suzaku, and Elliot couldn't do anything to prevent it. But I suppose there is no turning back unfortunately. Let's go, sergeant."

"Yes, captain." Fin nodded, following his captain out of the apartment.

_Sometimes, things happen – and there's no way of preventing them._

* * *

**End of Chapter Sixteen**


	17. Throwback

_It is easy to distance yourself from evil, but it is hard to throw away the evil memories that you have. There is no denying that we all have something in our past that we cannot move past, just as there is no denying that you can't forget them like forgetting to do a simple errand. It is hard to acknowledge that certain things happens, because we live in a state of denial and suppression. We suppress ourselves so much that it suddenly starts to take control of us._

_Memories are difficult to throw away for a reason, because we as a human race use memories as a way to flashback into the past, to relive something significant in our lives, or face something that they've tried to run away from. But not all bad memories are because of something physical or mental; sometimes, bad memories are usually when you lose someone you love, when someone tells you something you're unable to forget, and finally when you have a bad experience, like something embarrassing._

_But I'm not talking about getting a wedgie at school, or a negative response. Anything can cause a bad memory, but it's all about facing them and getting closure. That way, is perhaps the only way we can ever obtain peace with ourselves and our inner demons._

The squad is once again left in nothing but turmoil. The following day after Suzaku's sexual assault, the squad has been working round the clock. In some ways, he was lucky that she didn't kill him that evening, but all around the squad, the detectives were trying their best to help him. They followed simple protocol with him, like they do with all other victims before him. And it is hard to say that now, he is also one of those victims.

As they held Euphemia throughout the night, it didn't take long for CSU to scour his apartment as a crime scene. They took practically everything from the chloroform used to knock him out, to the bedsheets where it all happened. They dusted the place for fingerprints and immediately ran them through the database to confirm that is was Euphemia; it was, as mentioned earlier, simple protocol that they had to do. Regardless of how they felt about it.

Meanwhile, in the early hours of the following day, Suzaku was being examined, or in other words, the doctors were performing a rape kit on him. Having being placed through the embarrassment of something like this, he was being questioned by Sergeant Tutuola, who was there to ask him question in place of Detective Stabler, who was back at the squad room, going through their evidence.

Sitting down with him, Fin asked him simple questions, "Can you tell me what happened?"

He looked down and said to the detective, "It's hard for me to remember."

"Just give me your best description of what happened." he told Suzaku, whist opening his notebook.

"I was coming home until I heard a noise coming from the living room, I tried to investigate what it what, until I was caught from behind."

"Did you ever regain conciseness after that?"

He tried to remember everything that happened, and he recalled, "I woke up and I saw that she was on top of me. I was handcuffed to my bed, and my ankles were tied down. And then she pulled out the large knife and sliced open my clothes."

Writing down the details, Fin asked again, "Did you at any point, tell her to stop? Do you remember anything she said to you?"

"I told her what was she doing, and then she started..." Suzaku explained; then he stopped and asked, "Can we stop please? I don't know how much I can remember."

"I'm only doing my job, Suzaku. Just bare with me." Fin rebutted, "Now can you answer my questions?"

He looked down and explained, "I remember two things she told me. She asked me how she felt compared to Alex, and then she said, _'I don't want to kill you, but if you keep resisting, then I'll have too.'_ I don't get why she did it, and I just want to leave."

"What did that mean? Did you sleep with Alex?"

"I have never once touched her like that." he told Fin, and asked, "I should have known better than to let this happen, if I only did something about it, then we wouldn't be here."

Fin got up and placed a hand on Suzaku and told him, "Listen, man. It's better not to blame yourself. None of this was your fault, she is the one who was wrong. Not you. Know what I mean?"

He looked up at the detective and replied, "Yes, Fin. I understand what you're talking about."

* * *

_Later that day, on another brisk late afternoon in Manhattan_ , the squad was busier than usual, with detectives walking around the squad room, handling various cases – sometimes at once. As the other detectives were working on numerous investigations, Alex was elsewhere. She was still alone and behind a desk, sorting and filing during her recovery and it each second of it was tiring and boring to her. Nonetheless, this is where she found herself, unfortunately.

Since she was all alone, she had so much time alone with herself; but aside from the various work that she needed done, the only thing that kept her sane was reading each paper and narrating them in her head. At some point, she returned to her desk and sat there, staring at nothing. Slowly her eyes closed and then she fell right asleep, with her head down and her arms crossed. No one was there to bother her, therefor she could dream in peace.

_**-Flashback-** _

_On November 13, 2011, the detectives of Manhattan SVU were investigating a homicide of a housewife, who was assaulted then killed in her home. The investigation had lasted over a time span of two months, and they were currently trying to search for evidence that could help with her murder. But their work typically took this long, and they couldn't help it; either way they were looking over their present evidence until they found something that might wind up helping them._

_Somewhere in the afternoon, the detectives search up something that had led them to what seems to be a pattern, not a murder pattern – but a drug pattern. It didn't make any sense to them that drugs and murdered housewives would mix together, but this person's death sparks this information and the detectives are curious to find out more about this. Walking over to the other detectives, Elliot Stabler went over to show them something he happened to pull up._

" _Captain, I just got off the phone with a detective from the narcotics unit," Elliot told the captain, "He told me that there were a few recent incidents where housewives were getting killed. He explained that our victim was being investigated for running cocaine on the Upper East side."_

" _Is there any more he told you, detective?" asked Captain Cragen._

" _The rest he told me was they had a few similar cases in the past two years. They're investigating it as a possible drug ring."_

_Approaching both the captain and Elliot, Detective Olivia Benson asked them both, "But how does that explain her being raped?"_

" _If this is a drug ring, run by middle class women, then there is a possibility that this assault wasn't committed by a man." Cragen assumed, "But that is my guess."_

" _Okay now what do we do?"_

_Cragen sighed and told the detectives, "You and Elliot take a visit over to Narcotics and speak to the detective and his captain. Perhaps they'll let us know about their investigation."_

" _What do you want us to do, Captain?" asked Sergeant Munch._

" _You and Fin go over this information, and talk to CSU while you're at it." he told them, walking back in his office._

_Later that afternoon, Detectives Benson and Stabler drove out to speak with the detectives who where investigating this alleged drug ring. At around 4 o'clock that day, they entered the squad room where the detectives of Manhattan's Narcotics unit were conducting regular business. It wasn't very often that they would talk to them; the same applied for both the Homicide and Major Case squads – but that was only if their investigation permitted it._

_As they looked around, they were suddenly greeted by a tall man, in a dark suit – the commander of the unit. He approached the two SVU detectives and took the opportunity to introduce himself, "Welcome, detectives. I'm Steven Harris, captain of Manhattan Narcotics. Your captain told me that you were coming."_

" _Nice to meet you, captain." Elliot replied, introducing him and his partner, "I'm Detective Stabler, this is Detective Benson. We're here to investigate a homicide that happen a while back, I got off the phone with one of your detectives who told us about the victim's involvement with drugs. Is he still here?"_

_Before Harris could tell them where, the detective instead walked over, overhearing the three talking and introduced himself, "Yes I am. Detective Nick Amaro, we spoke on the phone earlier."_

" _Nice to meet you, detective." Elliot greeted, shaking his hand._

_As his job seemed to be finished already, Harris told the three detectives, "If you need me, I'll be in my office."_

_Before he made it back, Nick told his captain, "Excuse me, captain. Can you get my partner and tell her to get the case file related to their investigation?"_

" _I'll be sure to tell her which one to get." he told him, walking back to his office._

_Elliot and Olivia turned their eyes back at Detective Amaro, and Elliot asked him, "So what were you investigating her for?"_

" _A year ago, state police found two women trying to head to New Jersey. They caught them in Manhattan and found a combined mixture of prescription drugs and cocaine in the trunk." Nick explained to the detectives, "They called us and we've been investigating the case ever since."_

" _And how does that relate to the victim in our case?"_

" _We discovered that she stocked the drugs in the trunk, and with the confession from one of them, we also learned that she held the drugs in her house. When we learned of her murder, the drugs and the body was gone. Did you find the drugs?"_

_Elliot tried to recall that night at the crime scene and answered, "We never found drugs in the house."_

" _Which means they must have taken the drugs when she was killed." Olivia realized. Meanwhile, Nick's partner arrived in time to bring him the files that their captain ordered to get. Approaching the two detectives, she looked in the folder for what they were looking for._

" _Nick, the captain told me to give you this file." said the female detective, who's eyes were still in the folder._

_Elliot and Olivia were in shock when they realized who she was – It was Alex Cabot. They were in disbelief that she was a detective, which prompted Olivia to exclaim, "Alex? Is that you?"_

_Alex looked up and saw the baffled detectives, and replied, "Elliot, Olivia. What are you doing here?"_

_As they stared at each other, Nick was rather confused and asked his partner, "Alex, do you know these guys?"_

" _Yes, they are my co-workers." she told him, still making no sense to the detective._

_Later that evening, Alex was resting comfortably at home, awaiting Olivia to arrive. The two were together for a while, and each day together has been wonderful for Alex; but for some reason, she had a gut feeling that something was incredibly off. She has been having these feelings for months, and she has assumed that it is the result of some sort of sickness. But she realized that it wasn't a sickness in her stomach, but more rather her gut trying to tell her something._

_Slowly her trust started deteriorating, and she started getting suspicious; Alex couldn't quite figure out what it was about, and just assumed that she was losing her mind. For a long time, her thoughts played games with her and she dispelled it as her thoughts trying to do the same once again. She laid on the couch, waiting for her girlfriend to show up after she had told her that she would arrive an hour earlier; but something said she wasn't coming._

_But then someone was knocking on the door, which immediately caught Alex's attention. She got up fast and answered the door, and sure enough – it was Olivia, but she wasn't smiling. But Alex was when she saw that she was finally here._

" _Liv, what took you so long?" she asked, allowing her to enter – but she wasn't moving, "Is there something wrong."_

" _Nothing is wrong, Alex." Olivia sighed._

_Then a male voice was heard from outside, speaking to Olivia and asked her, "Hey Liv, should I stay out here?"_

" _No you can come on in." she replied. This raised a lot of suspicion, and Alex looked over her to see what was going on. She stepped back and watched Olivia and an unknown man walk into her apartment, where she would introduce him to her, "Alex, this is hard to explain. So let me tell you quick. This here is my boyfriend..."_

_Alex would interrupt and finished her sentence, with anger in her voice, "David Haden, I know who he is."_

" _You know each other?"_

_She turned away from them and said, "I'm afraid I do. But why bother explaining myself, my question is for you is what the hell is he doing here with you?"_

_Olivia had no hesitation as she told her, "He and I have been together for a while, Alex. I'm sorry, but I can't keep lying to him."_

" _What are you trying to tell me?"_

_She looked at her right in the eyes and said, "We're through. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be something that I'm not."_

" _What the hell does that mean?" Alex asked her, trying to handle her emotions._

" _For long, I only got together with you because I thought it would mean I could finally have a baby." she explained, "But after three years, I knew that this was going nowhere and that I had to try elsewhere. That is how I met David, and something sparked."_

_Alex bit her lip in anger, to a point where she drew blood. Looking down to try and catch herself, she looked back up at them and asked, "So these past few years, you felt nothing? All the times we spent together, you merely thought of me as some side piece. And now you have the nerve to come in my home with this bastard and tell me that you never truly loved me."_

" _I don't mean it like that." Olivia quickly defended._

" _What does it mean!?" Alex snapped out and yelled, moving away from her, "So all this time, I was just a tool for you to get what you want. I wasn't anywhere close to a lover to you. You only loved me superficially. I can't believe you would do something like this."_

" _Don't you understand? I did this for us. You and me." she tried to explain, but Alex knew that it was a straight up lie; so she turned around and glared at her, with nothing but disdain in her eyes._

" _No. Allow me to correct you, Benson." Alex rebutted, with the tone of her voice low and depleted, "You did this for you. You don't give a damn about me, only yourself. Now I want you to take your boy toy and get the hell out of my home! You and your boyfriend are not welcome here. Get out right now!"_

_They didn't bother to object, and Olivia walked out of the apartment without saying a word. With nothing else to do, Alex fell back on her couch with not a tear stream down her face, or let rage take place. She laid there without saying a single word._

_**-End Flashback-** _

* * *

As Alex laid on her desk sound asleep, Sergeant Munch starting shaking her awake. For a moment, she was unresponsive which almost prompted him to call the paramedics; but he realized that she was sleeping, and started shaking her awake. She didn't respond to that so he started calling out her name, while doing the same thing he was doing. Eventually, Alex slowly started to open her eyes and woke up to Munch shaking her over and over, almost annoying the detective.

Alex slapped his hand off of her arm and got up, cleaning her face and was noticeably groggy. But she had the strength to speak, and said to the sergeant, "John? What do you want, I was trying to rest."

"Sorry to disturb your rest, Alex." Munch replied, "But unfortunately, I had too. The captain needs to see you in his office."

"What for?" she inquired.

"Unfortunately, he told me not to tell you. He said it was better if you heard it from him."

She did not bother to reply and got up from her desk, with Munch assisting her along the way. She had zero idea why the captain would want her for anything, to her best knowledge it was a slow day in the precinct and there wasn't much going on – but considering how she's been separated from action for a while, she didn't know what was going on. Alex tried asking Munch about what he needed or what he was trying to tell her, but he didn't respond.

Alex entered the captain's office, with Cragen sitting at his desk waiting for her. Munch walked out of the room so they could be alone, assuming that it wasn't good news. From the way he looked at her, Cragen wasn't in a good mood – though he wasn't angry. Alex walked a couple steps to his desk, and asked the captain.

"Captain, is there something wrong?"

Cragen looked down and asked the blonde detective, "Could you close the door, detective?"

Alex turned around and shut the door, turning back she noticed that he wasn't sitting behind his desk. But Alex asked him, "So captain, what's wrong?"

He remained silent for a moment and then told his detective, "Last night, Suzaku was sexually assaulted in his apartment. He was just coming home last night when Euphemia broke in the apartment, knocked him unconscious and then when he woke up, she rapes him."

Alex was in absolute shock, as she heard this news. Hearing what had just happened almost made her cry in front of her captain, she sniffled and asked him, "Is he okay, captain? Tell me."

"Last time I checked, he's at the hospital being examined, while we have Euphemia in custody." Cragen told her; seeing how torn up she was at the moment, he walked over and told her, "Alex, I know that you don't want to hear it, but I want you to know that you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened. Just know that he's okay, and that Detective Stabler found him before she did anything else."

She nodded, trying to hold back tears, and told him, "Thank you, I appreciate it."

"However, I must tell you that you cannot get involved in this case. Do you understand?"

"I understand, captain. It's better if I don't let myself get involved, the defense will claim that this is a plan to frame her after what happened to me, giving them reasonable doubt. I understand why you want me to stay away, it's better we have her in jail."

"At least you understand why I'm doing this." he replied, "Now go home and get some rest, Alex. It seems you need it."

She did not object to it, and walked out of the office and was preparing herself to go on home. Cragen looked on as Alex went home early, and he knew then and there that this was rough for her, however it was not as bad for her as it was for Suzaku. Now the squad tries to handle what they should have been able to do long ago.

* * *

_**-Meanwhile-** _

_At One Hogan Place_ , Rafael Barba heard of what happened to Suzaku last night, and with the fast work by the detectives, he had just about enough evidence to charge Euphemia. This wasn't another opportunity for him and the squad to convict a person who has terrorized them. Someone who is willing to pull every dirty trick to maintain her freedom, and someone who has endless problems for not only the squad, but everyone she knows.

Barba transferred the evidence to DA Bartlett so he could formally file charges against Euphemia, however after he gave him everything needed, but later that day, he was called in suddenly to speak with him. He didn't understand why he would want to talk to him at all, considering that he and the detectives have given them every bit of evidence needed to file charges against her. But he exited his office and went over to speak with his boss.

He entered his office, where Bartlett was there waiting for him. He didn't mention what he wanted in particular, but he asked him, "What do you need, sir?"

He turned around to Barba and told him straight-forward, "I need to talk to you about the case you and your detectives gave me. Unfortunately, this is not going to work out."

"Wait, what the hell are you talking about?"

"I've decided not to file charges against this woman for first or second degree rape." he explained to his ADA.

"What do you mean you're not filing charges?" Barba objected, "The detectives has given me everything needed. The victim identified her as his attacker and we have evidence proving she broke in and assaulted him. What else do you need?"

"It's not about the lack of evidence, it's because I don't want this to go to the grand jury. And secondly, I don't believe that this woman attacked him."

"How do you not believe she is capable of doing this? She shot a detective and stabbed an officer in cold blood; besides her DNA matches. That is enough belief that she did this."

"I don't want to hear how she is able to do it, all you need to know is that charges won't be filed against her." he told him, "Not by me, or you. That's final."

As Bartlett walked back to his desk, Barba turned around towards the door, but not before he asked him, "How much is she paying you?"

He turned around in response of his unexpected question and exclaimed, "Excuse me?"

However, Barba didn't shy away from his comment and turned around to tell him, "Seems like she and her family is paying you a lot of money to keep quiet about this. Let me guess, she had dirt on you so you won't file charges against her, or she has been paying you off."

"What are you implying?" he said, with discontent.

"I'm not implying anything, sir. But my question for you would be why you decided to drop the charges _before_ the verdict?"

He started to get annoyed and walked up to him and said, "Now listen here, Barba. I don't want to hear another word of these baseless accusations. And if you dare try and accuse me of something like that again, then I'll assure you that you'll never work as a lawyer ever again. Understood?"

In no way he was intimidated by his boss, but he was angry however. But he decided to hide his anger and answer his boss, "Why yes, sir. I was out of line."

As Barba walked out of the office, he still believed that he was up to no good. And he knew that this wasn't over.

* * *

_Later that evening,_ Elliot had Euphemia inside the interrogation room without her lawyers once again. Cragen questioned his decision to allow Elliot to speak to her alone, considering his past history of assaulting suspects, and given the fact that Elliot himself wanted to break her neck, he simply used Elliot as an intimidation weapon at the most. Meanwhile, he did not say a word to Euphemia and just walked around the room, looking at her; he wanted to let her know that she wasn't getting out of this.

Elliot walked to the glass and said, "So, aren't you going to ask for your lawyers?"

"Oh no, I told them to do something else." she explained to the detective, "Besides, I like it when I'm alone with a strong man."

She tried to get up and approach Elliot, but she was handcuffed to the table. Elliot chuckled when he watched her try to get up and approach him, and in some way he got a little of enjoyment out of it. But despite how much he was loving her cockiness, he said to her, "Do you really think that you're getting out of this? Spare me will ya? You know what you did, and I'll be happy to testify on the stand about how you attacked him. After all, how many times can you get away with it?"

"I like your cockiness, detective. You always seem that you have someone when you really don't." Euphemia grinned, "Besides, between us, he struggled against it. You should have seen him trying to shake me off, you could get a kick out of it. I should have recorded it so I can relive it over and over."

"There's a special place in hell for people like you." Elliot scowled at the pink haired woman.

However, Captain Cragen walked in on the conversation and told them both, "Miss, you're free to go."

"Oh what a surprise." she said, sarcastically. Elliot was in disbelief as she was being let go, which led to him asking his captain.

"Sir, what the hell are you doing? We have her."

"It's not my call, detective." Cragen told him.

Euphemia walked past them both, and looked at Elliot. She smiled at the detective and walked out of the squad room, once again a free woman. Elliot wanted to shoot her so badly for how smug she was acting, and exited the interrogation room, and then confronted Barba, who was standing on the other side of the glass.

There was no doubt that Elliot was angry at their ADA, and it didn't surprise Barba the least that they would be angry. But he was as well. Elliot approached him and asked, "Why the hell are you letting her go free? I thought this was a solid case?"

"It is, detective." Barba rebutted, "However my boss will not file charges against her, neither will he allow me to do the same."

"So what? Just because you are not enough of a man to stand up to him, means she can go free?"

"Detective, don't you dare blame me for this. The one thing I want most is to have her spend the rest of her life in jail, but I have to follow the orders my boss has given me."

Elliot turned back and yelled, "So you're just gonna bend over and take it?"

"Elliot, I know you're angry, but yelling at me won't change anything." Barba yelled back.

Then he started to simmer down a little, however, he was still angry nonetheless. He took a deep breath and asked, "So what now? What do we do now, counselor?"

He thought about for a moment and replied, "I don't know, detective."

"But what about Suzaku? What can we do to protect him?" Cragen chimed in and asked.

"I would say a restraining order, but considering the circumstances, a restraining order wouldn't do any good."

They knew that they were deep in a hole, and considering what just happened, they were left with no other options left. Elliot, Barba and Cragen walked away and tried to sort everything out. But meanwhile, there was still a woman home free. Elliot walked back to his desk, and placed some files in his desk; he was upset over this and the only thing he wanted was to see her face the consequences. But one thing he hated was that Suzaku didn't get any kind of justice, just a giant middle finger.

* * *

_Meanwhile, at the hospital_ , Alex knew that Suzaku would still be here, considering the fact that he has been in the hospital since early this morning. She asked around, whether they were doctors, nurses, police officers or even patients, to confirm that he was still in the hospital. But as she was led to his room by a nurse, he was already gone. This drew suspicion from both Alex and the nurse, who had seen him a while ago before she saw the detective.

Alex ran around the entire hospital, searching for him. As careful as she was, she spent fifteen minutes searching for him, but then she noticed him walking down a hallway and out towards the exit. Quickly, she tried to catch him before he tried to exit the hospital. She called out his name, loud enough for him to hear her. He had already exited the hospital, but she was still following him into the cold New York weather.

She managed to catch him, who was unresponsive to her calls, and she asked him, "Suzaku, where are you going?"

"I'm leaving." he answered, in a monotone voice.

"But don't you know how cold it is out here?"

"Doesn't matter how cold it is, all you need to know is that I can't be here anymore."

He shook her off of him, and she watched him walk away. However, Alex said to him before he got far, "Are you okay, Suzaku."

Suddenly, he stopped walking. He didn't bother to look at her, but instead replied, "Okay? I'm the farthest thing from okay. Please leave me alone."

And then he kept on walking. Alex wanted to run after him but knowing how traumatized he could have been, the last thing she wanted to do was disturb him. As much as she wanted to comfort him, she knew that he would reject her and go on suffering alone. She sighed and walked back in the hospital, and sat down on the nearest chair so she could try and collect her thoughts. The only thing she regretted was not going after him that day, perhaps in some way she could have prevented this.

_But she could change the past. Neither could he erase the memory of it._

* * *

**End of Chapter Seventeen**


	18. Comfort

_What can be learned from the past several months, was the fact that nobody can really be saved in the manner they please. When you think about it, life itself is a difficult test that determines if we can handle these obstacles. But enough about that. It is obvious that things happen for a reason, whether they be good or bad. It's easy to admit your own faults, even when you believe that either you could have done something about it, or merely blame it on something else._

_A lot of life lessons we completely disregard, especially after we learned some of them. Regardless, we all have something we have problems with. It's tough to admit that you're wrong, it's tough to admit your flaws, no matter how much you try to hide them. It is easy to assume, rather than understand. It's difficult to help those who can't help themselves. In fact, it's easy to help others, but it's tough to admit that you need help as well. That's how it is._

_When you think about it, I could have prevented Suzaku from leaving the squad room, I could have convinced him to hold on to what little we had left, I know somewhere in my heart that I could have done something to prevent what happened to him. I know that I should have came after him, before she could get her hands on him. But it is easier said than done. I wasn't there that day, and if I was, it would have also resulted in our deaths. But enough about the what-ifs, enough about what I could have done._

_But my friend is scarred, broken and wounded. And all I can give him, is comfort._

* * *

Four weeks have passed, and everything right now has been more insufferable with every passing day. Doesn't matter who it refers to, all that is known right now is that things are broken. In the snowy weather in Manhattan, Suzaku has deeply struggled in the past several weeks; since his sexual assault, he has been trying intensely hard to cope with what happened to him. The shame and regret he was bearing, broke him up even more than before.

He had vanished from the eyes of the SVU detectives, and everyone he's close too. They haven't seen him since then, they didn't know where he was or why he vanished; none of these questions could be answered by Alex either, as even she didn't know what he was – she hasn't seen him since he left the hospital. Like him, Alex has had a tough time trying to deal with what happened, and like him, she needed her friend more than anything.

But the problem was: it was easier for her than it was for him. Suzaku couldn't go back to her, as he was afraid of what would happen to _her_ instead; but as what was proved from last time, he was better off being protected by a woman who wants to protect him, rather than play stereotype and try to protect her. But although he could protect himself, he doesn't know of the dangers that face him – which was why they were friends in the first place. But unlike most, Alex has never asked for anything in return – but gratitude.

On one evening, _at Hudson University_ , in one of the corridors of the campus, Suzaku was sitting there on the floor alone. He tried to place himself in complete solitude, so he could face the flashbacks he has been getting these past weeks. He muted the outside world so he could be alone with himself, with everything that has haunted him; from the shooting, to his sexual assault, it was all there for him to face by himself. But it wasn't working.

What he thought could help him, tormented him more. In each one, he can only see Euphemia, mocking him and laughing at his pain. He tried so hard not to say hate and her name in the same sentence, because he knew that he couldn't move on; but even though she wasn't remotely close to him, he felt as if she was tormenting him herself in some way. He wanted the demons to go away, and but the flashbacks started intensifying, to the point where it was crippling against him.

In the midst of an intense, unwanted flashback, someone started tapping his shoulder. And then, a female voice spoke out, "Hey? Hello?"

And suddenly, Suzaku was able to hear her voice, which snapped him back into reality. He looked up at her with his glassy eyed expression, and saw a girl looking down at him. She blinked a few times and she asked him, "Are you alright? I saw you shivering from across the hall."

He looked down, still trying to recover from his episode, and replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a moment."

She knew somehow that that was a lie, so she went down to one knee and got closer. Slowly her hand reached for his face, and when she touched his cheek, he flinched. It surprised her, and she exclaimed, "You don't look like you're alright. You flinched when I touched your cheek."

He looked away from her, knowing that he couldn't explain himself to a complete stranger. But he did say, "It's nothing for you to worry about. I'm okay."

"You're not okay." she objected, "You wouldn't be here alone, shaking. Most of all, you're sad. Aren't you?"

Suzaku looked up, and nodded. He would reply, "It's difficult right now. Something that you probably don't understand. Yes, I am sad. But it's nothing for you to worry yourself about; just leave me alone, please."

For some reason, she knew that he was hiding something. Then she said, "But why? Why can't you go to someone for comfort?"

Again he looked down and he explained, "Clearly you don't know my situation, but I'll tell you that I don't have many people to turn to at the moment. I know it's pathetic but that's how it is right now, so I'm trying to deal with my depression alone."

This is when she inched closer, this time placing her hands softly on his face, and she whispered softly, "You don't have to deal with it alone. I could provide some comfort, even if you don't want any."

"That's awful kind of you, but I must decline."

"Nonsense." she rebutted, resting her head on his shoulder, "Everyone deserves a companion, even if it's for a night. The school is practically empty, so nobody will bother us."

Knowing how he was at the moment, she insisted on starting slow. By that, she started kissing his cheek and slowly she applied light kisses to the side of his neck. There was when another flashback appeared, to the point where he started trembling. He felt as if he was once again being forced to partake in this, but he was frozen – all he could think about was that moment where he was incapable of helping himself. That made it more and more painful.

Though Suzaku showed resistance, indicating that he didn't like it. She stopped momentarily and reached for his ear and whispered, "There's nothing to be afraid about, you're safe with me. If there is anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, then I'll stop."

Given the fact that it was hard to trust her word, somehow Suzaku could feel the authenticity of her words, through her body language. He knew that somehow, he knew that she wasn't going to harm him, and that was what led him to press her against him. She countered by sitting on top of him, and continued kissing him from his cheek, to his neck and eventually, down to his chest. He held her tight enough to let her know that he trusted her, and she was already aware.

She flipped her light blonde hair to the back, as she stopped momentarily. He noticed how she looked no older than him, if not, the same age as him; though he couldn't tell for sure. Finally, Suzaku worked up the courage to touch her extensively. The girl didn't stop him, and pressed his head against her chest. She didn't push him away, more rather, she encouraged him to touch her wherever he pleased. And suddenly she separated his head from her chest, and stared at him.

They both slowly took each others clothes off, with the girl reaching over and kissing his exposed torso. He enjoyed it for some reason, until he stopped her and said, "Wait, is it possible if I can do something?"

"What would that be?" she asked; he didn't reply but prompted her to lay her back on the floor.

He raised her skirt and placed his head beneath in, and it led to her panting intensively. She stared up at the ceiling, and started trembling herself; she extended her arms as far as they could reach out, taking deep exhales. She closed her eyes, and moaned out of passion; then arched her back, as she started breathing more heavily and intensely than before. She opened her eyes, and she felt as if they were rolling to the back of her head, even when they weren't.

She clawed the hall floor, even though there was nothing to grab onto. After such time, the girl nearly let out her passion by moaning out loud, though she was able to control herself; meanwhile, Suzaku pulled his head from under her skirt, and saw as she laid there panting heavily. He himself was catching his breath as well, after he had spent a while under there. He lifted her up close to him, and held her. Somehow, he wasn't familiar with that type of behavior.

He asked her, "Are you alright? Did I do something wrong?"

Still panting hard, she replied, "You didn't do anything wrong. On the contrary, you did a great job."

She got back onto his lap, and looked in his eyes – all while she unbuckled his belt and she slid her underwear off. He understood how bad timing it was, considering what happened to him. But she was some sort of exception. They didn't say much to each other, but from the way they looked at each other, the way they were touching, and how kind she was to him. Within moments, there were connected to each other; at least at that moment.

Throughout the course of it, there was grunting, moaning, their bodies pressed tight against each other. The movement that she gave not just gave her pleasure, but was pleasing him as well. Soon enough, they fell to the floor, going a bit faster than they did before. It wasn't after than was when Suzaku turned her over on her back, and continued the same motion. Her eyes were closed, and this time he was kissing _her_ neck. Both of them felt amazingly good at the moment.

Until they both approached full completion, something that caught them both by surprise. After that moment, he fell to the floor after such a exhausting performance. She was in the same position, also exhausted as she experienced pleasure not once but twice. The unknown girl rolled over to his side and cuddled by him, merely to make him comfortable; but at the same time, she was also comfortable herself. Suffice to say, they _both_ enjoyed being that close to each other.

Suzaku turned over to her and said, "It's weird. I never got your name."

The girl smiled at him, and whispered, "That's not important. What is important is, are you happy?"

Though it was a tough question to answer, he would reply, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Then that's all you need to know."

Although he had slept with a complete stranger, for that moment, the flashbacks and the trauma went away. And somehow, he felt better because of it; but it wasn't just the sex that helped, but more rather the fact that he had someone to be close too. Even if it was temporary.

* * *

_**-Several days later-** _

Today marked once again another day where the squad has not received contact from Suzaku. They all thought that after learning that charges won't be filed, he ran off in solitude. They were not entirely sure that this was the case, but after six weeks of absolutely no contact, they thought of the worse things that could have happened to him. The fact that was clear was, they had grown a special type of attachment to him, even though Detective Cabot was the first to befriend him.

But that had no meaning to be honest. During a usual afternoon in the squad room, there was a slight change – Alex was no longer doing paperwork. Though she was cleared to return to work, she didn't feel as if she was physically or mentally fit to get back to action, which left her doing a lot of filing. Though she was glad to have her gun back, she knew that it wouldn't fill the void that Suzaku once filled; she knew that she could find him and bring him back – but she wasn't sure if he even wanted to see her.

Walking into the squad room, she noticed Detective Stabler by the monitors, examining some unknown case files. She was mildly curious of what was going on, so the blonde detective walked over to her colleague to see what was going on.

"Hey, Elliot." Alex greeted, in a formal tone. "What are you doing?"

He took a drink out of his coffee mug and explained, "Nothing. I'm just going through an old cold case."

"How come? Did this pop up on us, or are you just doing this to pass the time?" she asked.

Even though his conversation with Kallen last month was private, he couldn't risk Alex getting involved, with the implication that Euphemia might be involved, so he told her, "It's extremely complicated. You don't need to worry about it."

"Okay. I'm just a bit curious about where it came from." she stated, "I mean, I've been in there with nothing but old case files for the past couple months, at least half of them are cold cases."

Elliot looked up and told her, "Well this is not an SVU case. It's a homicide case."

He didn't realize that he had already said a bit too much, which prompted the blonde detective to ask, "Why are you looking through an old cold case from Homicide?"

"It's a long story, Alex. I know it doesn't make much sense to you, but I'm just doing this because I was curious of something."

"Well either way, if you need any help, just let me know. Okay?"

"Yeah sure." he replied, not taking his eyes off the files. She walked away from him, and reached into her back pocket for her cell phone. She checked to see if she got any missed calls or messages from Suzaku, even though he's rarely touched his phone in recent weeks.

Alex turned back over to Elliot and asked him, "Hey, El? Has Suzaku sent any texts or called any of you guys recently?"

Still focused on his work, he shook his head and said, "No. Haven't seen him in weeks."

Chiming in on the conversation, Captain Cragen told her, "I checked with campus police at Hudson, they recently spotted him coming in and out of class yesterday."

"Did they mention if he was alright?" she asked.

"They explained that he looked fine, but they did describe him having a few moments where he sat in a corner or at a table alone."

Although she knew that he was okay, she sighed in disappointment. She would ask her colleagues, "So is there any possible way that we can help him?"

"We're not sure, Alex." Elliot replied, "And even if we did help him, what then? He can't help himself, why should we bust our balls when he won't so much as let us know he's alright."

In a surprise fit of rage, Alex retaliated, "How can you guys give up on him!? You of all people have been great to him. Munch, Fin, you were there to tell him that his girlfriend was cheating on him. Captain, when he last spoke to you, he literally felt as if he could trust you. And Elliot, after I was shot, you helped him through it and even rescued him from that sociopath Euphemia. I know that you guys care about him, _I_ do. Why not the rest of you?"

Alex walked out of the squad room, and left them in a state of regret. Alex had tried so hard to find and comfort him, but it wasn't a one-person job. Cragen walked back into his office, to resume his own duties, leaving Elliot, Munch and Fin to sulk in the fact that they let her down.

Likewise, Munch said what was on his mind, and he remarked, "Boy, she's pretty pissed off. Isn't she?"

"Yeah, we know." Elliot agreed, putting down the files and approached them, "Guys, we need to try and find him and possibly try to help him."

"So you're saying that Alex is right?" Fin inquired.

"Yes, she _is_ right. I've really spent more time being pessimistic about him, when I realized that there is some kind of quality in him." Elliot nodded and explained, "Well it's time for me to stop looking at him like a suspect, and realize that he is a victim. And it's our job to help those who need it the most."

"And you're just _now_ realized this?"

"Don't lecture me, Fin. Now let's find him."

In a major coincidence, Suzaku aimlessly walked in the squad room, after weeks since his last known visit. He didn't understand why he was there at all, in fact, he didn't know if he could face them once again, especially after everything that's happened since he got involved with SVU. But he didn't blame them for everything that's happened, because he knew that without them, he would have most certainly died far sooner.

They saw him standing in front of Elliot, staring at them and he said, "Um, detectives?"

"Well, looks like our search is over." Munch remarked, again.

Ignoring the comment, Elliot said to him, "Suzaku, come on and have a seat."

He didn't feel like sitting down all that much, and instead sat on the desk. The detectives had no objections to it. But he would come right out with it and asked, "Elliot, Fin, Munch, I need your help. I don't know if what I'm doing is right but, I need you guys to help me."

They were mildly intrigued as to what he needed help with, in which Fin asked, "Help with what?"

"I need your help finding someone." Suzaku looked up and answered.

This request interested them, but at the same time it surprised them mostly. They looked at each other to see if they all heard the same thing, but they were all on the same page. _Later that day_ , Elliot and Fin took him upstairs while Munch searched for a someone who could also help. Surprisingly enough, they literally forgot that they had a second floor to the squad room, considering that they work upstairs already. Still, it was nothing more of less than the last one.

Anyways, the two detectives sat him back down so he could describe who he was looking for, and why he wanted to find this person. Elliot and Fin, sitting side by side, while Elliot asked, "So tell us why you're trying to find some person?"

"Well, almost two weeks ago, I was alone in a hallway, trying to fight the flashbacks I've been having. Until, this girl came to me and asked if I was alright." he explained, "Somehow, she and I wound up having steamy sex in the hallway that evening."

As soon as he put it in context, it didn't make a lot of sense to either of them. To which Elliot said, "Sounds like you had a one night stand."

"Yeah. If that's the case, why are you looking for her? Why not let this one go?" Fin asked him, in a curious manner.

"It's a little difficult to understand." he stated, then he gave his explanation, "When she came to me, she touched my face. I practically flinched when she did, she knew something was wrong and she stayed with me so that I could calm down. The way she touched me, felt indescribable. Something about her, made me feel so sublime. Somehow, even when I was crippling, she came in and made me feel alright."

"So she did this all through sex?" Elliot inquired.

Suzaku chuckled a bit and replied, "No, it's not like that. The sex was merely an incentive. Everything else, was just me feeling her body language. That's how I knew she legitimately cared."

"How so?"

"She made me feel as if I was safe. I was about to have a trigger moment right in front of her, but she told me that I was safe with her – and I believed her. This is not some lame excuse of love, but this girl took the time to comfort me, when I was all alone. I know it sound stupid."

"Nah, man. We're not thinking that, we just think it's uncommon." Fin exclaimed.

He nodded and said, "I get why you guys seem skeptical of this."

"Yeah, but we should let you know that we got your back." Fin stated, "You've been good to Alex, and we know that she's been good to you."

Elliot chimed in and added, "Besides, we may have not been able to put your attacker in jail, but we can certainly try to make it up to you."

"Thanks a lot." Suzaku smiled; he knows that they feel guilty, but he also knows that they really care. That says a lot; but anyways, as they were wrapping up the conversation, Munch returned with one of the department's sketch artists so they could get a description of this person.

"Suzaku, this is our sketch artist. He's going to draw a sketch of this mystery person using your description." Munch told him.

The sketch artist sat in front of him, as Elliot told him, "Okay, now if you want us to find her, we need a description of her. If you remember."

Unlike before when they asked these questions, Suzaku could actually give a clear description of her which he described, "Well, she about a few inches shorter than me for starters."

"Okay, anything else? Her eyes, her hair, any type of features?"

"She's a light blonde, the length of her hair being very long. She has bangs, and two side bangs as well." he described, "Pale skin, very colorful eyes. Like those you don't normally see. No tattoos, no piercings, and she has a slender build."

"Anything about her lips, her nose. Anything like that?" asked Sergeant Munch.

"There's nothing really wrong with her nose, her lips are regularly sized if I can recall. But if I remember, her eyes were a bit big and that should be it."

It took the sketch artist to compile a rendering of what she may look like; after it took an additional couple of minutes, he turned the sketch over to him and asked, "Is this the person you're describing?"

He instantly recognized the resemblance between the two and replied, "Yes, that's her. It looks exactly like her."

"So that's it? Nothing else about her you forgot?" Elliot asked, in order to assure that he didn't leave anything out.

"That's it. That's who I'm looking for." he assured the detective.

With a sketch of the mystery person in their possession, the three detectives walked down the stairs to have a short conference. Considering the girl's features, this was going to be harder than they thought it would be. Munch and Elliot both knew that this was going to be a problem, so they dragged to tell Fin, who didn't believe that this wasn't much of a big deal to find her.

Now that they were away, Elliot was the first to say, "Yeah, this is going to be a problem."

"What do you mean?" Fin inquired.

Trying to be careful, he whispered to him, "We can't find this girl. How many girls in this city, let alone at Hudson look like this?"

"I feel this is going to be a waste of time." Munch agreed, though it was his own opinion.

Unlike them, Fin was more determined to help him out and was about to remind them about it, "It's not that hard to find her. He gave us specific details of what she looks like and if she's somewhere on campus, then maybe we can find her. We're not searching all over Manhattan for this girl, so stop being lazy."

"I suppose we can start at Hudson, but what if she isn't there?"

Before Fin could explain how, Elliot interrupted and said, "I suppose we can check her out in the database. We run the sketch through the system, something's bound to show up."

"Let's reserve our choices." Munch told him.

"In the meantime, we're gonna start our search at Hudson U." Fin told them _both_ , "Now come on, we don't got time to waste."

* * *

_Later that day_ , the detectives once again, searched around the university grounds, this time searching for someone who may have been with Suzaku one evening. Hudson University was their first place to look for this person and the campus wasn't a small place to look; so they divided themselves to search around the school. Munch and Fin would go to campus police, while Elliot went to every classroom to speak to the teachers, in hopes that they might identify her.

First off with Munch and Fin, who went to the offices of the campus police to see if they had seen anyone who matches their description. They waited in the office for about a half hour, as nobody was there to speak with them. Eventually, as soon as they departed from the office, weirdly enough, about most of the officers had returned. Regardless of how they felt about the situation, they returned and went to speak to one of the officers.

One of the campus officers asked them, "Can I help you two?"

"Yes you can." Munch replied, then showed their badges to introduce themselves, "Sergeant Munch and Tutuola, we're with the NYPD."

"Oh yes, we've been getting some calls from you guys."

"Yeah, we need to know if you or any of the other officers have seen this girl on campus." Fin went and asked, holding the sketch of the girl. The campus officer looked at it, and even showed it to the other officers that were there. Ten minutes of asking around, the campus officer returned and handed the sketch back to the detectives.

"We're sorry, we've never seen that girl around here that looks like that." he told them, "Chances are, whoever you're looking for is here, but doesn't look like that. Or she isn't a student here."

"Not even as a transfer student?" Munch asked in disbelief.

"No. We have the same picture database as the administrators, this picture matches none of the ones we have on file. If we do find something there, then we'll let you know."

"Thanks a lot." Fin said to the officer, in an annoyed tone.

"You're welcome."

As they two detectives exited their offices, they were discontent with the fact that they had to ask around the student body for someone that they are now starting to doubt whether or not she exists. Either way, they made their way back outside, where they tried to ask around the people that were passing by; but the students didn't seem to care who they were and went along with their business; this started to annoy the detectives more than anything.

As for Detective Stabler, he almost literally scoured every open classroom and asked each teacher if they had seen her. His patience was slowly deteriorating by the second, to the point where he had given up all together and decided to try and find his partners instead of interrupting another class. Turned out, searching for Munch and Fin proved to be more of a waste of time than searching around for teachers all throughout the day.

But by random chance, Elliot ran into Munch and Fin – after he had _also_ given up on finding them. He took what other time he had to get something to eat, only to find Munch and Fin walking and trying to get someone to talk to them about it.

Elliot walked out to them and said, "How much progress have you made?"

They turned around and quickly asserted that he skipped his job to go eat. To which Fin snidely remarked, "Seems like you didn't make much progress either."

"What's that suppose to mean?" he rebutted, raising an eye brow.

"We've been lucking out, trying to speak to somebody who knows but apparently, you went out to eat."

"I went to get a snack after I stopped looking for you guys." he explained, "I only starting searching for you two because I lucked out with the teachers."

Meanwhile, Munch asked a female student, "Excuse me, have you seen this girl?" She shook her head and walked away from them, to which Munch turned around and said, admitting defeat, "Well, we've searched around this campus and not a single person knows who this person is. Either we're looking in the wrong place, or Suzaku is playing us."

"Seems like he has been this entire time." Fin reluctantly agreed. They decided to return to the squad room, until suddenly someone approached them. This male apparently overheard their conversation, and believed that he could provide some assistance.

"Excuse me?" said the male student, "Did I hear you are trying to find someone?"

They turned around and Munch asked, "Yes we are. Do you know this person?"

As Elliot held up the sketch of the person, he took a noticeably long look at it and took a second to himself to remember who it was. Until it hit him, so he told them, "Yeah, I remember seeing that girl. Almost two weeks ago, I saw her with a few of these recruiters for the Marines, which I found odd because I never heard of them coming here."

"Did you speak with them?"

"As a matter of fact, I was speaking to them about joining."

Elliot chimed in and asked, "Was she one of the recruiters?"

He tried to recall exactly how it went down and he answered, "Actually, I don't think she was. If you like, I can give you the number of the guy I spoke too. There's also an address to a recruitment station, if that will help."

They took the address and Fin smiled, "It helps a lot. Thank you."

* * *

The three walked away from the young student and headed to the recruitment station where they could talk to somebody who could definitely identify who she was. _After a lengthy car ride_ , the detectives went directly inside the recruitment station, where they would find one of the Marine recruiters that could at the very least help them know who she is. They asked one person who referred them to the man that spoke to the student at the school.

As the waited for the recruiter to arrive, the three have a conversation on how it should go. With Fin asking them both, "So who gonna do the talking?"

"Personally, I thought Elliot would do the honors, since he's the ex-Marine." Munch suggested.

Elliot shrugged and agreed, "Eh. I have no objections to that."

After approximately ten minutes later, a man in uniform called out to the detectives, "Excuse me? Am I aware that you detectives need something here?"

Munch and Fin allowed Elliot to do the talking, in which he asked plain and simple, "Yes, I'm Detective Stabler, this is Sergeant Munch and Tutuola. We're with the NYPD, and we were hoping that you would answer a few questions of ours."

The recruiter put his hands in his pockets and nodded, "Sure. What can I do for you gentleman?"

"Have you seen this girl two weeks ago at Hudson University?" Elliot asked, raising the sketch for him to see.

He took it out of his hands to get a closer look to confirm who it was; he knew immediately who it was, to where he replied, "I know her! Her name is Leila, she's one of my old buddies back when we were deployed in Iraq."

They were lucky to find out her name, at least – but they still needed to legitimately find her. Munch then asked, "Was she one of the recruiters back at the campus?"

"Surprisingly, no. In fact, she appeared suddenly when we were setting up. She volunteered to help."

Fin got up and asked, "We know that this seems odd, but is there any place where we can find her? Have you seen her recently?"

He thought of all the places that she could possibly be, and then he remember one spot. He told them, "Well actually, I did see her a while ago. She said she was going to Columbus Circle to read a book or something; didn't understand why she couldn't stay inside but then again, people do strange things right?"

They bolted for the door, but Elliot nodded and said, "Thanks a lot for all your help."

"Hey wait!" shouted the recruiter, "Is she in trouble or something?"

"No, but it's complicated." Elliot replied.

It did not take long for the detectives to make it over to Columbus Circle, but like how it is on usual days, it was gonna be tough to try and find her. However, since everybody were starting to go inside because of the weather, they searched outside for her. They first tried to see if she was inside the buildings, coffee shops, whatever possible places that she could have been. The duration of their search took more nearly an hour or even more, this because they were searching around in a large area – plus there were three of them.

Their desire to continue looking was fading fast. And they had just about had enough of searching for someone whom they shouldn't be looking for in the first place, they gathered up about seven minutes later as the sun was going down and they were freezing, and had yet another conference.

Munch looked at both of them and asked, "So what do we do now? We didn't find her, and there's a chance that we may never will."

"Now don't say that, John." Elliot told him, calmly. "We can still look for her, we made it this far, why quit while we're ahead?"

"I'm not saying that it's impossible, I'm only saying that we're better off trying some other time."

"Hey! We wasted way too much time to give up now." Elliot objected; but as he and Munch argued, Fin noticed someone sitting alone on a park bench. He was rather curious of who is was, and after he watched for a little bit, he knew that it could be her.

Fin interrupted them and said, "Hey, hey! Stop and look over there. It could be her."

At that moment, they had nothing to lose but approached the person who was sitting alone. They were easily skeptical of the idea that it could really be her, they didn't really want to believe it no matter how hard they searched for her, but what they were aware of was they were going at least play it off somehow.

The three detectives walked over to the person, and then Fin said, "Excuse me, miss? Is your name _Leila_?"

She turned around, facing the detectives, and replied, "Yes. Can I help you?"

They didn't say anything, but raised the sketch and compared it to who they were speaking too; and she was a exact match to their description, from her long hair to her eyes, to which Elliot uttered to the both of them, "Perfect match."

Munch and Fin saw it as well, so they turned back to her with Fin telling her, "We need you to come with us."

As much as she thought the very worse, they showed her their badges, proving that they are with the police. Although she asserted that she did nothing to have three detectives come looking for her, but Leila did not object to it, so she closed her book and calmly followed them back to the squad room. This was a small victory to say the least, because they needed to be sure that she is the right person that they're looking for; but it was better off left unsaid.

* * *

**To Be Continued – End of Chapter Eighteen**


	19. Slow Down

_It was about 6 pm that day, when I spent some time finishing my job in the filing room, before I walked out of there for good. It was after I left was when I noticed that Detective Stabler, Sergeant Munch and Tutuola were all missing. I believed that there was a chance that what I said to them earlier that day upset them; when I tried to call them, neither of them bothered to answer and when I came to Captain Cragen about it, not even he knew where they went off too._

_Somehow, I felt that there was a possibility that they were mad at me for snapping at them. If that was the case, I didn't mean to do that; I was angry and frustrated by the fact that they planned on leaving Suzaku astray, plus the fact that I've been aching to see him again. If they were doing an investigation, the least they could do was tell me what is going on – I don't want to suspect that something else bad happened to him, I couldn't be able to bare it._

_About 7:30 that evening_ , the three detectives finally return after a prolonged absence, which raised questions from Captain Cragen, who wondered why four of his people weren't around. His assertion that they were brought out to a crime scene, which would be one good explanation; but he chose not to look further into it. The same could also be said about Detective Cabot, who after walking back in their filing room, returned only to notice their absence.

The reason to their departure was to find someone for Suzaku; they managed to return with a girl named Leila, the only person who looked remotely close to their description. She voluntarily followed the detectives back to the squad room, rather than prove her innocence. She knew that she did nothing wrong, but at the same time, she was interested as to why the detective wanted to speak to her at all – she understood that there was no room for suspicion.

They instructed her to wait in the interview room until they were ready to speak to her; Leila took this chance to finish reading while she waited for them to return. Meanwhile, Alex was looking around the squad room to find something that she misplaced. It was a folder that she misplaced while she was speaking to Detective Stabler earlier that day; either way, she searched desks and the floor to see if was there. In a fit of desperation, she looked in the interview room – but Leila was the only thing she found.

Alex raised an eye brow, she looked rather curious of why she was just sitting there; but before she said anything, Leila looked up and noticed the detective by the door, and said, "Hello. Are you the one that's suppose to be talking to me?"

"Uh... no actually." Alex replied, "Are you waiting for someone?"

"As a matter of fact, I am. These three detectives told me to wait a little while."

The blonde detective nodded her head, and said before she walked out, "Alright then, someone will be with you soon."

Considering the fact that this turned out to be a work by Elliot, Munch and Fin, Alex walked over to them as they were having a conversation; Alex didn't get the concept that they instructed her to wait for someone to speak to Leila, in fact it seemed at there was a lot that they were keeping from her.

Alex walked over to them and asked, while pointing back to the interview room, "Why is there a girl in the interview room waiting for one of you guys to speak with her?"

They turned around and saw her in discontent. Elliot answered, "Well, we're trying to speak to her about something."

"Is she a victim?" she inquired.

Elliot shook his head and replied, "Not exactly. She's not a suspect either."

"Then what is she doing in there?"

To help clarify this for the detective (and also finally tell her the truth), Fin explained, "We brought her here so she could confirm her whereabouts a couple weeks ago. It is our belief that she and Suzaku shared an intimate time, and we're looking to confirm if she was that person."

Something about this didn't sound right, which Alex asked, "Since when do we investigate _consensual_ sex?"

"Oh no, it's not like that." Munch rebutted, "Suzaku asked us if we could find her."

Then her eyes lit up when she heard his name, as well as the fact that they spoke to him. She asked them eagerly, "You mean he was here?"

"He's _still_ here." Elliot revealed, "We told him to wait back here until we found her. We originally planned on telling him to go home, but that changed after we found her."

"So what do you guys plan on doing?" Alex asked them, placing a hand on one of the desks.

"Well we're working on that. We're only concerned about learning a little more about her." Elliot answered, as he walked into the interview room. Alex still didn't understand any of this, while Munch and Fin simply looked her up for more info. Meanwhile, Elliot walked in the interview room, prepared to speak to Leila.

He approached her slowly but not directly at her. Noticing that someone came in again, Leila placed a bookmark in the book, closed it and looked up at the detective. Elliot sat down in front of her and said, "Well, I hope we didn't keep you waiting. We were trying to sort out a few things."

"I hate to ask this, detective." Leila asked, who had some concern, "But have I done something wrong?"

Elliot shook his head and answered, "No. You didn't do anything wrong. I just need to ask some questions, if you're willing to do so."

"Alright then. I'm willing to answer your questions." she nodded; until she just happened to notice Elliot's tattoo above his right wrist. Leila took large interest by it, and commented, "I'm sorry, but is that a USMC tattoo, detective?"

Having rolled up his sleeves before he got there, he took a peek at it and grinned, "Why yes it is. You familiar with the Marine Corps?"

"Familiar? I _am_ _in_ the Marines." Leila happily proclaimed, "Are you a former Marine, detective?"

Elliot smiled and said, "Yes, I was. I did some time there before I joined the force. How long have you been in the Marines?"

She wasted no time trying to remember, and told him, "I don't know, it's been so long since I've been. If I remember correctly, I enlisted in the Marine Corps when I was seventeen; I was originally born in England, but my family moved here to America not long ago."

"Great to know. You've been in the Marines since you were seventeen?"

She nodded slowly, "Yeah. At first, I thought it was a huge mistake, but then I started going around the world and learning new things. I'm actually glad that I joined."

"Well, I'm glad you did." Elliot smiled, then opened up his notebook that contained details and questions inside, "Okay, since you are willing to answer my questions, let me ask you. You were at Hudson University several days ago, correct?"

"Yes, I would say that I was there some time ago." Leila told him, trying to recollect her whereabouts that day; however she didn't understand why he was asking these questions, "How come you're asking me this, detective?"

"We are just trying to figure some things out." he said, "At some point, did you ever come across a male at the school, whom you had prolonged contact with that day?"

It was a little hard for her to remember to say the least, but rather than leave him cold, Leila answered, "You are aware that now I'm a little hesitant to answer your questions? But if you really want to know, I did meet this one person. He was all alone, and he felt depressed. So I came to him in his time of need."

The story she was giving him was beginning to match the story Suzaku gave them; but to be sure, Elliot asked her another question, "Did the two of you have sex that evening?"

She was startled by the question, to a point where she started blushing a bit. He could see how uncomfortable she was when he asked this question, to which Leila turned away and replied, "I'm not sure I'm comfortable telling you about that."

"It's okay, you or him won't get in trouble. I just need to know." Elliot assured; but she had a moment to herself so she could try to come up with the courage to explain what happened that evening. While he assured her that telling him wasn't going to get either of them in trouble, she finally decided to come forward.

"If you must know, then yes I did." Leila admitted to the detective, "He was so alone, and I wanted to make him feel alright. I didn't do it to pity him, but I wanted to at least relieve the stress he had. But even though I was trying to make him feel good, he wound up making me feel good instead. Even today, I still remember it piece by piece."

"So you were only trying to console him? Okay that I understand." Elliot nodded, "But did you ever speak to him after?"

"There was one time where I tried to find him at Hudson," she answered, "Although I was able to ask around, few people knew him, but didn't know where he was. Why are you asking, detective? Did something happen to him?"

Elliot shook his head, and revealed, "No. Like him, he also wanted to find you. And we know where he is. Do you want to see him again?"

For a while, Leila thought about this. She didn't know if she should have tried to pursue him, or more rather, _should_ she try to see him. But she swallowed her anxiety and said to the detective, "It sounds enticing, I'll tell you that. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt seeing him again, but it depends if he actually wants to see me."

"Don't worry. He has been waiting to see you too."

Elliot walked out of the interview room, now being confronted by Alex and Captain Cragen, who was unaware of what they were doing – until he noticed Elliot speaking to her through the other window. Cragen wasn't necessarily angry, but was rather stumped by the fact that nobody seemed to let him know what was going on; even Alex didn't know what was going on at all, as she was the latest to find out what they're doing.

He did not hesitate to ask his detective, "Can you explain what the hell you three are doing?"

"We're only doing a favor for Suzaku, captain." Elliot explained, instead of shying away from the question, "He asked us if we could search for a girl that he met, and considering everything that's happened, we decided to help him out."

"By dragging a stranger back to the squad room?"

"Sorry for not telling you beforehand, but this was the next best thing to bring them together."

Though Cragen had a problem with this, he didn't bother to object. However, Alex voiced her opinion and said, "You three honestly don't think that I'm just going to let you introduce him to a stranger you three found on the street? "

"No, no. Not us; You will bring him over here." Elliot retaliated, since she was the closest person to him.

Although Alex wanted to hit him badly, even despite their captain standing behind them, she went to go find Suzaku; but not before Elliot whispered a couple of areas where he could be. Alex tried the upstairs, which was the first area he told her to look. In a lot of ways, even she forgot about this area in the precinct; regardless she wasn't able to find him up there, so she went searching elsewhere.

* * *

She tried searching in the barracks that the detectives rarely use – and it doesn't _just_ apply to those four, but the other detectives that worked there. She believed that he would be in there sleeping, but unfortunately, he wasn't there. Which led to her looking in the break lounge, which was the last option she had. She worried now that he probably left, after getting tired of waiting for the detectives. As soon as she walked in, to her surprise, Suzaku was there alone.

As he sat there, reading and eating a sandwich (which belonged to Elliot), Alex walked in and murmured, "Suzaku?"

He looked up and saw Alex by the door, he didn't bother to ignore her. Instead, he replied, "Oh hello, Alex. How did you find me?"

"Detective Stabler told me where you would be." she told him, inching a little close to him. She wanted to make sure he didn't feel uncomfortable, so she assured him, "I'm not going to mention what happened, the reason why I'm here is to take you somewhere."

"Where would that be?" he inquired.

"Don't worry, we're not leaving the precinct. Now come with me."

Alex took hold of his arm, which he took a glance at. Suzaku got up on his own and walked with her, so she could take him to the others. They both remained silent, with both of them having a tough time trying to say anything to each other. Everything that has happened from this point on has caused endless strains on their friendship, Alex didn't want to mention what happened to him, just the same as Suzaku didn't want to mention the day she was shot.

No matter how bad they wanted to speak to each other about it, soon as Alex brought him to the interview room, Suzaku was utterly shocked to see who was inside of the room, to a point where he started trembling a bit. He didn't fear the fact that Leila was in there, or the fact that they were fast to find her, but he was overwhelmed by her presence, something that he hasn't felt since he met Alex. The detectives noticed how he was staring at her, which brought some concern.

"Suzaku, do you know this girl?" Elliot asked, the question that they've been awaiting to ask him.

He wasn't able to keep his eyes off of her, but he nodded, "Yes. That is most definitely her. But how did you find her?"

"Wasn't hard, young man." Munch answered, citing their hard work trying to search for her.

Alex turned over to him and asked him, "Suzaku, before you go in there, do you really want to meet her?"

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to formally introduce myself." he murmured, for only Alex could hear.

"Go ahead, man." Fin told him, "We wasted too much time trying to find her, the least you could do is say hello."

As much as he tried to resist, he tried to shy away from this as much as he could; but he started this and now she's there. Suzaku took a large exhale and slowly walked inside the interview room, all while he tried to control his nerves. Leila looked up and saw him walk in; she was also nervous as well, she didn't expect to ever see him ever again. But here they were, face to face – and now they have the opportunity to speak to one another.

Suzaku took a couple extra steps, as the detectives shut the door. Both of them had a difficulty trying to speak to each other; fortunately Suzaku was the first to speak, as he greeted, "Hello, it's very nice to see you again."

"Yes, I'm glad to see you're doing alright." Leila smiled, indicating how happy she was that he was okay.

He was quite nervous by the fact he was alone with her, which caused him to blurt out, "You look very beautiful, I might add."

She was flattered and also flustered by his compliment, so she turned away and said, "T-Thank you. I guess?"

Everything seemed awkward and silent; both of them having a tough time trying to talk to one another, which raised concerns from the detectives. But after much resisting, Suzaku went and told her, "Listen, I know you feel that this is weird, considering I dragged the police into this."

"No worries, I was considering the same thing."

"Well, I know that you really didn't expect this to happen." he told her, looking away. But Suzaku looked directly at her and said, "I want to talk about that night."

This caught a bit of her attention, so Leila turned back over to him and inquired, "Why do you want to talk about that?"

"It's because ever since that day, I've thought about it almost all the time." he explained, "But that's not why I tried to search for you. There was something about you that clicked, not how you screwed me, but by the way you treated me. I felt something odd when I was with you, something that caused me to snap into reality."

"So I was the person who helped you get your mind right?" she inquired; then she turned away, walking away from him, and then she admitted, "Since we're admitting stuff, I felt as if our meeting was also inevitable. I don't know if I'm crazy, or not; but I do know is that I too have been trying to get you out of my mind."

"What are you trying to say?"

Leila stood silent for a moment, until it finally took her the courage to reveal to him, "Ever since we did what we did, I can't stop thinking about you. For example, when I was showering, I thought of the way you touched me, and the way you made me tremble, it just makes me go crazy. But my fingers aren't nearly enough to satisfy me the same way you did. At some point, I wanted to find you badly."

"Until I happened to beat you to it, and asked them to come find you." he realized.

Everything seemed okay but they were both concerned with how things were going, so she addressed, "If I must, I feel as if this is going too fast. Even if; and I'm not saying I don't want too, but even if I did engage in a relationship with you, I want to try and know you better."

The very thought of them being together sounded enticing to Suzaku, but then he remember all the things that has happened at this point on. He remembered how Kallen lied, hurt and betrayed him, something that he couldn't forget; and then he remembered every single thing that Euphemia did to not just him, but his friends and even Alex. He feared that if he rushed himself with Leila, then he would be setting himself up for misery. That was his belief.

Suzaku told her straight-forward, "Listen, I also understand that if we try to jump into things, it would be bad. But for right now, I just don't feel as if I can handle being in another relationship after the one I went through. I'm not saying that I want nothing to do with you, I'm just saying that maybe we can be friends, but also be able to satisfy each other."

"What are you proposing?" he inquired.

"Maybe... we could stay friends, but at the same time, we can still be intimate without tying ourselves in a romantic relationship. How does that sound?"

"It wouldn't hurt." he agreed, as he approached Leila and said, "You and I are seeking to different things – and we can provide that to each other."

For some reason, Leila took his hand and placed it on her cheek and smiled, "I guess that will work out for the both of us. Both our desires to become friends is strong, but becoming a couple... that is something that I may have a problem with. I prefer that we take it slow."

Then he remembered something vital, to which he brought up, "As a matter of fact, I don't believe I know your name."

She looked up at him and introduced herself, "My name is Leila, what's yours?"

"My name's Suzaku. Pleasure to meet you."

They smiled at each other, as she removed his hand off of his face. But before she left, Leila told him, "Meet me at Hudson Square Park tomorrow. Maybe we could hang out."

"I would like that." he accepted, watching the long haired blonde walk out of the interview room.

Meanwhile, the detectives were quite touched, intrigued and even amazed at how he handled himself in there. Alex noticed how she could put a smile on his face, something that she was able to do as well. But even though they didn't want to be a couple, Alex wished that they could probably be a fantastic one. When he walked out, he got mixed expressions coming from each one. At least a couple of them were smiles, one was an impressed look and one neutral.

Alex was the first of the bunch to say to him, "Good job, Suzaku. Very proud of you."

"What's there to be proud of?" he asked, rather sternly. "Besides, I just wanna go home."

Cragen approached and told him, "Well wait out there and one of us will drive you home."

As he walked far enough for them to speak in private, Cragen turned over to his detectives and asked, "There is no way we can allow him to go back to where he was attacked. What should we do?"

"I have an idea." Munch spoke up and said, before Alex could give a suggestion, "How about if Suzaku stayed with me for a while? So he doesn't have to go back to where it happened."

Although Alex was also about to suggest the same thing, as did Fin, she asked the sergeant, "Are you sure you would be okay with letting him stay with you?"

"Certainly." Munch agreed, then placed his hand on her shoulder, "You've done so much for him. I think that this time, we should do something for him for a change, so you don't have too."

"You're gonna let him stay with you for a while?" asked Captain Cragen, who was trying to confirm this. Munch didn't need to say anything else at that point, as he nodded in agreement.

Though they were contempt to allow Munch to take him home that evening, some of them knew that it was going to be Fin driving either way. While their concerns about allowing him back to his apartment were all unanimous, they didn't quite hold much contempt to the idea of Suzaku staying with him; even Alex believed that it could be a good thing for the both of them – even if it was temporary. It also allowed her to stop worrying about him, and caused her to relax.

Still, as far as everything goes with Suzaku and Leila, they just had to wait and see how it goes. But for them, they both insist that they should _slow down_.

* * *

**End of Chapter Nineteen**


	20. Recovery (Part One)

_Recovery is hard, no question. Relapse is easy. In this case, it is hard to drive down the road to recovery successfully, since so many obstacles are in the way. When you are addicted, or dealing with something traumatic, or even dealing with death, it is hard to move past it. People don't quite understand how it is to truly struggle, or even understand how long such recoveries can take; sometimes a week, or even a few years. That being said, when you are suffering, you need time to recover._

_I know that all too well, because I've been down that same road with alcoholism. And no, it wasn't because of a bad relationship; it was just the beginning of a chain of events that led me to drink so much in the first place. I realize now that I almost put the lives of my colleagues at risk because of my drinking, and I'm grateful that I was able to get some help. But getting help isn't all you need, sometimes being around those who have the same problems, won't help – in fact they might end up being the cause._

_I'm alive today because I was able to get a grip on myself. I let my depression lead me to the bottle, and it damn near destroyed everything that I've worked for. I was able to help myself, because the help I was getting wasn't enough to keep me from drinking. I was able to discipline myself, I taught myself that I can still drink without it ruining my life. I drink lightly nowadays, I never drink when I'm angry, or sad because that is how my life was falling apart in the first place._

_I'm not telling this story for nothing. I'm telling this story because I know how it is to recover from something, and I just hope that the people close to me can help themselves._

* * *

It has been over two months since the detectives had gone through one giant tailspin, with Euphemia wreaking havoc on the squad. They were able to breath now that she has vanished, but they also know that she will eventually surface. It has also been two whole months since Suzaku started living with Sergeant Munch, since he hasn't entered his apartment since he was attacked. Somehow he was able to sleep at night, even though he had flashbacks.

He has dealt with so much, with his girlfriend running around on him, his best friend gets shot, and his _ex-girlfriend_ raping him. The sun hasn't shined down on Suzaku so much during those difficult times, but the only things he has right now, is both Alex and Leila – both women that have started to influence his life positively. Then again, they can do so much.

On a windy Monday morning inside the apartment of Sergeant Munch, Suzaku was up earlier than usual. He didn't have school today, but instead he was getting himself ready to spend the entire day with his other new friend, Leila. Munch for some reason, was still present as he was also getting ready to go to work – even though he wasn't permitted to go that day, despite being Monday.

Munch walked in the living room, and saw Suzaku fully dressed and tidying up before he headed off. He didn't know that he was standing right by the door, until Munch told him, "You don't need to do any of that, kid. I was going to do it for you."

He did not flinch, but looked up and Munch who was standing by his bedroom door. Suzaku looked down and said, "Don't worry about it, Sergeant. Besides, I'm a guest here. It would be rude to leave this place looking like this after all you've done."

"It's fine. I know you're going through a tough time, and I'm glad I'm able to do my part." he rebutted.

"That's awful kind of you, Sergeant. You guys have been great to me at this point."

"Well there is something that I need to ask, " said Sergeant Munch, "Why are you all dressed up, early in the afternoon? Something going on today?"

Suzaku chuckled slightly and told the sergeant, "As a matter of fact, I'm going to spend the day with Leila if you wanna know."

"You've been spending so much time with that girl. Am I to believe that you and her are special buddies?"

"No it's not like that. We're still friends, only thing is we also have some casual sex now and again."

"I'm guessing now and again, means every time you are with her."

He noticed something off about that comment, so he bent back up and inquired, "What are you implying, Sergeant?"

"What I mean is you act gingerly around her. Like every time you two hang out, you have a legitimate smile on your face." Munch explained, "So are you starting to develop feelings for this girl or not? No need to feel embarrassed, I understand if you don't want to answer.

"Sometimes, I think about it." he replied, "But it's a little soon if you ask me. So much has happened, and I don't want to mess this up in any way."

Munch nodded and agreed, "I understand why you feel that way. It has been tough. But it won't help you if you keep reminding yourself."

"I understand." Suzaku nodded; but he and Munch heard his phone go off. Not a call, but a text. Munch picked it up and read it, only to realize that it was Detective Stabler trying to get a hold of him. The detective-sergeant signed when he read the text, so he picked up his stuff and headed out the door.

"I need to go back the squad room. Stabler is waiting outside for me." he told Suzaku, "You need a ride, kid?"

"Yeah, I suppose you guys can." he shrugged, "Washington Square Park is a long walk away from here. I was about to take the sub there. Do you believe Detective Stabler will be okay with it?"

"I'm his supervisor. Of course he'll be okay with it." Munch smiled. Suzaku followed him out of the apartment so they both could get to their destinations; however he did feel uncomfortable with the fact that he allowed them to do things for him. It was clear that pride kicked in somehow, fortunately he didn't want to look like an ass at the same time either.

It took a while for the two detectives to drive all the way to Washington Square Park, not sure how long but either way they dropped him off just nearby the park. Suzaku didn't say anything but shake their hands and say his goodbyes. Elliot was reluctant to give him a ride, since he has spent most of his time disliking him. The detectives drove off, leaving him by himself; he stood around for a second so he could check his phone, with that he walked in.

He looked around to try and find Leila, but couldn't spot her anywhere. It took him over ten minutes to try and find her, later believing that she hasn't shown up yet. Suzaku sat by the fountain in order to catch his breath, as he was running around most of the time. He opened up his phone to call her in order to see what was going on, but she didn't answer. He sighed, starting to think that she wasn't coming at all. He didn't know that it just his brain tricking him to think such.

Suzaku leaned forward with his eyes fully closed; but he forgot that he was sitting by the fountain. Before he could fall in, he was caught just in time. He opened his eyes and turned his head to the right and saw Leila holding him in her arms to prevent him from falling, he was happy to see that his friend had arrived but was more happy with the fact that she prevented perhaps a embarrassing moment.

"You got to be careful. I can't count the times I've fallen in this fountain." Leila chuckled; Suzaku got up and they exchanged hugs, he was glad to see that she made it almost in time.

"Where were you? I thought you stood me up for a second." he asked.

"Why do you think that? I was actually trying to find you." she explained, "But I apologize if you thought as if I did."

"Don't worry about it, you're forgiven. So let me ask, what is it you want to do today?"

"Didn't we discuss this yesterday?" she inquired, "All I plan on doing is walking around, seeing what is here. You don't need to worry, I know the places to go. But in all fairness, if you're looking for simplicity, this is the place to go."

Suzaku thought about it for a bit and agreed, "I suppose you may be right."

"Trust me, I can show you a nice time today if you let me." she smiled. She had the fullest intent on showing him a marvelous time that day, but he would've bee fine just being _with_ her.

* * *

_**-Meanwhile-** _

Elsewhere in Manhattan, between Park and 3rd Avenue; Detective Cabot received a message from an anonymous person, asking to meet them at a coffee shop on the day and time expected. She expected the very worse considering how shady it seemed, but what caught her was the fact that it sounded important, despite the anonymity of the message. That being said, based on the directions, it didn't take her long to arrive from her place to this particular area.

Walking inside, she looked around to see if she could recognize someone inside. For cautionary purposes, she brought her gun with her in case something went awry. When she turned over to the counter, her peripheral vision caught what looked like Lelouch sitting nearby. Alex walked over to him, after he signaled her over. From the way he looked, there was something going on with him; with her line of work, she could tell.

Alex did not sit down in front of him, but he still took the chance to tell her, "Good afternoon, Detective. Would you like some coffee? Fresh from the counter."

Her suspicions grew a bit larger based on the tone of his voice. Yet, Alex replied sternly, "Are you the one that sent that anonymous message to me?"

"I'm glad you actually got the message. Now do you plan on staying there, or are you going to sit down?"

"You sound as if you're in some distress." Alex pointed out, "So are you going to cut the act and tell me what's really going on?"

He realized that the act was not going to phase her as well as he hoped, so Lelouch came out with it and whispered, "Look, I understand that you have better things to do than listen to my damn problems. But I need some help."

"I could do anything else than to come out here and see what you need." she stated, "But I'd rather see what is going on with you, since I'm already here."

"Was that an insult directed at me?"

"If that's all you're worried about, then I might as well go."

"No, wait!" he shouted, as Alex slightly moved towards the exit. "I know that you'd rather spend time elsewhere, but why I brought you out here is because of my sister."

Somehow, this caught her attention. Alex knew all too well that it had something to do with Euphemia, so she sat down and said, "Okay. What's going on between you two?"

"I've been receiving calls from her almost every day for the past couple months." he explained, "I've refused to speak to her whenever she tried to visit or call me, but it has driven to the point where it can be considered harassment. Did you know that she even had the audacity to have my teacher pull me out of class so she could talk to me?"

"Why is she doing all these things?" Alex inquired.

"Probably to torment me. I haven't been the same person since she..."

He was unable to finish his sentence, because he couldn't bring himself to go back to it. But Alex would complete the sentence, "Since she raped you? I understand you don't want to remember that again."

"I've been to handle myself, but now I wonder why she feels the need to do this."

Based on her experience as both a prosecutor and detective, Alex explained it clearly, "She's doing this because she knows that she can control you that way. Lelouch, no matter what you did years ago; you're not the sick one. The only reason she is doing this is because she is your sister, so she's using that against you."

"Is there anything that you can do?"

Alex took a deep breath and explained, "Unfortunately, neither I nor my fellow detectives can do much to help you. We are so elbow deep in other cases, I don't know how we can keep you away from her considering how persistent she is."

"So that's all you can do? Butter me with sweet words and tell me to handle it on my own?"

She got up from the chair and told him, "I'm sorry, Lelouch. If there was anything that I could do for you, I would do it."

That wasn't an answer that Lelouch was looking for, he didn't want her to exit without giving him any type of assurance. He was angry and in peril, unable to do anything to protect himself, let alone the likes of his younger sister. Angered, he jumped out of the chair and grabbed Alex's arm and yelled while pulling her back, "Now wait just a minute?!"

But Alex wasn't having any of it; so in retaliation, she countered by grabbing him by the throat and head and slammed him down hard on the table. Lelouch was unable to break away from her, as she pinned him down with all her strength. Some of the other customers ran over to try and yank Alex off of him, but she quickly identified herself as a police officer and shouted for them to back away. But she turned her attention to Lelouch.

"Is that how you behave when you don't get your way?" she said.

He couldn't break out of it, but he tried to explained while under duress, "Detective, please! The only reason I came to you for help is because of Suzaku!"

Alex didn't know if he was using him as a crutch, but she was able to tell that he had problems right now. She simmered down and freed Lelouch, backing up a couple steps. Then she asked, "Is that _really_ the reason why you called me out here today? So you can persuade me in trying to help you?"

"I know that I should be the last person to ask you for help," he explained, "But between us, my sister has done wrong to the three of us. I thought you would be able to understand. I've tried to handle this myself but as much as I try, she always comes back with even more force. If you could do it for Suzaku, then can you try to help me even just a little?"

This placed Alex in a difficult situation. He didn't know that even she has struggled trying to protect Suzaku, thus raising the concern as to whether or not she can help him or not. But after thinking about it, she told him, "I'll do everything I can to protect you and your little sister from her. I know some people, so I can make some calls to see if I can place you two in witness protection."

"That's the best you can do for me and Nunnally?"

"Hopefully, it will protect you from her. If that doesn't help, then I'm afraid nothing can."

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the SVU squad room, the squad was conducting regular business as usual. With the exception of Detective Stabler, who has been working on a cold case on and off for at least a few months or so. Today, he found enough sufficient evidence to potentially identify the suspect, so he decided to inform his colleagues about what he was able to uncover. Gathering the evidence and case files, he organized a private meeting in the captain's office.

He was able to bring in Sergeant Munch and Tutuola, as well as ADA Rafael Barba. Captain Cragen was already in his office when he brought the other three inside. Cragen wondered why he was focusing so much of his time on this one particular case, but in good faith he allowed him to continue working on it as long as it didn't interfere with his other investigations.

With Barba walking in, Elliot said the the four, "Thank you all for meeting me here."

"In my office?" Cragen replied.

"I had too. I didn't feel as if I should tell you guys out there. We have no idea who may be watching."

Fin was suspicious so he asked, "What are you trying to tell us, Detective?"

He did not respond, other than give them an individual copy of the case files. With that taken care of, he started explaining it to them, "Okay, since everyone has one, allow me to begin."

"What is this about, Detective?" asked Captain Cragen.

"This about a girl by the name of Shirley Fenette. She was found dead a couple years ago behind an apartment building, by a bystander." he explained to them, "I've been investigating this case for the past few months."

Though it caught their attention, they didn't get how this relates to them; which Barba addressed, "How does this have anything to do with us?"

"I'm getting to that." Elliot replied, "Apparently, this directly involves Euphemia. And from what I learned, it also involves Kallen and Lelouch."

"What does this have to do with them?" Munch inquired.

"From what I found out from the original detectives that were investigating this case," he explained further, "They questioned Lelouch almost immediately after her death, Kallen discovered the body that day, and Euphemia was pinned as the prime suspect. From the original testimony that Kallen gave to police, she explained that the suspect and victim were having an argument the days that led to the murder."

"What else did you recover, Detective?" Barba asked him.

"The autopsy determined that the fatal blows used to kill her, was with a mini sized hatchet. One day, Kallen came to the squad room and explained how Euphemia was covered in what looked like blood, back when the two lived together in Staten Island. A search warrant was used to search the apartment, they did not find the bloody clothes or the weapon used to kill this girl. Because of the lack of evidence, she was released and the case went cold."

"So they couldn't find anything on her to determine that she did it?" asked Sergeant Tutuola.

"I've been investigating this case ever since Kallen told me about it. I believe her story, because from the way she looked when she told the story, she was telling the truth. I checked the old apartment to see if they missed anything, I found the hatchet that could've been used for the murder, but when I sent it to CSU they told me that there was no blood cells, skin tissue or fingerprints on the hatchet."

It sounded too surreal, yet Munch had an assumption as to how it happened, "Which means you found the wrong hatchet, or she cleaned off every inch of possible evidence."

"I'm only bringing this to your attention. I asked the DA if he could write up a search warrant, but he hasn't responded."

Out of surprise, Barba replied sternly (and with a bit of disdain in his voice), "Good luck with that, Detective. That man is corrupt up to his feet, he's the reason why rape charges weren't filed after our last run-in with that woman."

"So you're saying that he intentionally let her off?" Cragen inquired.

"I don't see any other reason why he would. Either that or the family is bribing him."

"That explained why Lelouch was so hesitant to file a complaint against her." Fin pointed out.

"So what do we do from here, captain?" asked Detective Stabler.

"The first thing you should do is take a visit to Cold Case and continue working on this murder investigation." Cragen ordered, then turned to Barba, "Now I know that you aren't my problem, counselor. But since we have Cox working the missing boy case, you and Sergeant Munch conduct an investigation on Bartlett."

"Is there anything specific that we should search for?" Munch asked.

"Based on what Barba has told us, search for anything illicit that he may be involved in. Counselor, if you manage to uncover anything illegal activity he is doing, call Benson. Give her whatever you find, and she'll handle the rest. Is that clear?"

They all nodded in agreement, and exited the office. As Elliot walked back to his desk, he felt a little guilty for not letting Alex know about what is going on. It wasn't because he felt as if she could get hurt in the process, but mostly because it was hard to trust her; but even he had his doubts about this case. He has gone through the case several times each day, and each time the story sounds different than he could recall. Though that may be because of lack of sleep this past week.

* * *

_**-Later that day-** _

It was late in the evening in the streets of Manhattan as Suzaku enjoyed one of the best days he has had with Leila, equal only to the days he has spent with Alex. A deep summary of their day was a really simple day. He performed with street performers, much to her amusement; Leila got a kick out of splashing him with water, to which he retaliated by doing the same. They eventually took their day elsewhere and took the subway to view other parts of the city.

Other than walking in and out of large building and flat out acting silly together, they decided to go to his place (that actually belonged to Munch). They took a cab back to the apartment, but for some reason, the driver dropped them off on the wrong block. This was most likely due to miscommunication; but this was tiring for them almost immediately, as they were forced to walked several blocks to his apartment building. By the time they actually arrived, it was nearly ten o'clock.

Once they got to the door, Suzaku's legs were sore – which didn't make sense to him. Then again, he walked more than nine blocks. Opposed to him, Leila was hardly exhausted; she looked at him and laughed at the fact that she walked as long as him, and doesn't feel anything. She didn't necessarily pity him, but she did place him on her shoulders so he didn't fall on the pavement. But she still found him amusing either way.

"How are you so tired?" she laughed, "I don't feel anything and I walked just as long as you."

"Somehow, I'm no longer used to walking that long." he said, panting a bit afterwards.

"I had to run with a fifty pound bag on my back one day when I was in Parris Island" she retorted, "Perhaps you should stop power walking. It's not impressing anyone – not me or yourself."

He noticed something odd about that, which he asked, "Why were you there? In fact, where is Parris Island?"

"I was in a recruitment camp there when I enlisted in the Marines." Leila revealed, something that he didn't really know. "And just so you know, it's located in South Carolina. I wanted to go to the depot in San Diego, but they sent me to South Carolina."

"That's good to know. Interesting that you are well adjusted."

As they walked in the apartment building, Leila asked, "What does that supposed to mean?"

"You were out there on the battlefield, were you? Sometimes people don't come back right, but in your case you seem alright." he assumed, "Anything interesting you remember out there?"

"I don't like talking about it." she deadpanned.

He placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered, "Well if I can persuade you to talk about it, maybe we can at least end the night on a nice footing, if you know what that means?"

Leila started chuckling a little, she understood clearly. With that, he escorted the blonde girl upstairs so they could adjourn... to the couch. And for the record, Munch didn't really care about him bringing her or anyone to his apartment, and was well aware of their agreement. That aside, he carried her the rest of the way – even though his legs were still sore. The moment that they went inside, they wasted no time.

They took their time to say the least. Leila tried to undress him, but he stopped her and did it himself. All that went was his shirt and though that was all he took off (other than his shoes), she allowed him to undress her; he moved in front of the couch to do so, and he managed to take more off of Leila than he did with himself. By the time he was finished with her, he had stripped her down to her underwear – more specifically, she was wearing _just_ her bra.

That was the only thing that remained on, as she laid on the couch. Suzaku hovered over her and started kissing her shoulder and chest, all while his hand traveled down between her legs. It took no more than a ten or so minutes for her to start feeling the intensity of her arousal; at that point, he had kissed and licked her everywhere except her lips and she responded by clutching in certain areas of her body and arching her back.

Suzaku felt some type of arousal by touching her, he wanted to enter her with everything he has; but he insisted on being a gentleman. At that point, Leila was ready for him but then she just happened to get ahead of herself. Before he could get up, she yanked him down and kissed him; he was shocked as this was the first time he felt her lips, he didn't fight back and returned the kiss. Apparently, Leila wasn't thinking clearly at the time when she did this.

At some point during the kiss, her wits returned. She realized that she made a huge mistake and in response, Leila pushed off Suzaku. He was a bit confounded when she pushed him off. As part of their agreement, they weren't supposed to kiss each other as a kiss indicated a romantic feeling – something that neither of them took to account until after the fact. Leila backed away from him and put her hands on her forehead.

"My God, what have I done?" she whispered to herself.

He didn't understand what was going on, as he forgot entirely. Suzaku placed his arm on her shoulder and asked, "Leila, is something wrong?"

She slapped his hand off of her shoulder and got up, whispering to herself, "I wasn't supposed to do that. I'm not supposed to have any feelings for him."

"Is everything okay?" he inquired.

"No. None of it is okay." Leila cried, unable to look at him. Shaking her head in disappointment, she told him, "I have to go. I can't be here with you."

With a flash, she got dressed and exited the apartment. Somehow, Suzaku couldn't figure out what happened that made her leave; it even made her think he did something wrong. All he could do was look at the door, he didn't run after her. He didn't even try. He couldn't even explain why he didn't do anything.

And now he's alone, in a dark room with just his thoughts. That was a bad place to be. Where did she go? Who knows where.

* * *

**End of Chapter Twenty**


	21. Relapse (Part Two)

She was able to dress herself before she left, she exited without saying a word. She left her lover for the evening without a clue where she was going. Leila ran out of the apartment building cursing at herself, while she tried to hold something back. She stopped running and stood there on the sidewalk, only to catch her breath. As she stood there, she took the time to think. Why did she run away like that? What was it about that kiss that set her astray?

Leila looked back, trying to convince herself to go back. But she thought to herself; should she really come back? The only thing holding her back was her refusal to accept any feelings for him. She bent her head back and closed her eyes, to give herself a convincing argument. But she bent her head back to position and continued to walk away. In a way, she believed that he would be better off without him – but was not able to convince herself that she could do the same.

In the end, she was only mad at herself.

_**-Five weeks later-** _

Sergeant Munch was getting ready to go to work like he always has, about nothing about it was different. As he walked in the living room to pick up his coat, the first thing he sees is Suzaku lying on the couch face down. He had some concerns as he heard him groan a bit; this has been a problem for the last few weeks. Yet Munch hasn't worked up the kind of words to say to him. It wasn't the first time he felt that way.

As Munch exited the apartment, Suzaku turned over to his side. If one could see his face, then you could see a man that has worn himself out. He was basically exhausted. Since Leila left, the flashbacks came back. He tried hard not to think about it but every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was that dreadful moment in his life. It was easy to tell that he hasn't had any sleep recently, since almost every night he has nightmares about everything he's experienced.

He got up slightly, putting his hands on his head. He wanted the memories to go away. Alex and Leila were the only people capable of doing so, but they're no longer with him. It was perhaps time for him to get himself back together, before he loses his sanity.

Walking back in the living room, Suzaku noticed two missed calls. One coming from an unknown number, the other call came from Detective Stabler. He wanted to call Alex or Leila in hopes of bringing them back; and he has tried hard to actually text or call them, but instead he tossed the phone between the cushions of the couch and sat back down. He hoped that he could finally close his eyes and see nothing.

* * *

_**-Meanwhile-** _

Back inside the squad room, Detective Cabot sat by her desk filing papers. Today has been a busy day. All throughout the day, she has taken statements and alphabetize files; in short, she is really tired. She picked up her phone to see if she received any texts or calls from Suzaku, as she tried calling him earlier in the day using her colleague's phone. The fact that they have been estranged from each other for weeks, she feared the worse.

Alex rested her eyes momentarily, trying to drown out all of the chatter in the squad room. But as she was beginning to fall asleep, the phone rang. She answered it and discovered it was one of the people downstairs informing her that a civilian wanted to file a report. It was expected of this job to have a high volume of people coming in and out. She went back to working on her files and on occasion, check a few of her current cases.

As she was sitting there doing her work, she receives a tap on the shoulder. Not with a finger, but with some type of object. Alex placed the pen down and swung her chair over to see who it was; she looked up and saw that it was Agent Olivia Benson, giving her a surprise visit. For the record, she did not allow her personal involvement with her to interfere with her work life. Like her, she also came for work reasons.

"Agent Benson, what a surprise." Alex greeted.

She nodded in response and said, "Nice to see you too. So I've spent some time out in the FBI lab assisting you guys on your murder case."

"You have to be more specific. We have a lot of open cases right now. Most of them are murders."

Olivia pulled out a piece of paper from a folder and told her, "I've been doing some extra investigating in the Shirley Fenette case. So far, I couldn't find any kind trace evidence that links Euphemia to the crime. But forensics was able to find some stuff that was overlooked."

That was where it did not sound right to her. "Wait? What are you talking about?" she exclaimed.

She didn't understand what Alex was trying to say, so she tried reminding her. "I'm talking about this murder case that you guys talked to me about. You all asked me to do some digging of my own, so I went to give you what I did find." she explained.

Alex took the folder from her and took a look. She had never heard a single thing about this case and if she did, she may not have been paying attention; but still she said; "I don't know what they told you, but this is the first time anyone has told me about this."

"Nobody told about this case?" Olivia inquired, "Not even the captain?"

"No. I've been buried in desk work and open cases." Alex nodded.

"Why wouldn't they tell you? If this has something to do with Euphemia, then you might deserve to know what's going on."

"I'm not concerned, Olivia." she sighed, "If they didn't tell me, then they may have had a reason."

Olivia nodded as Alex handed the folder back to her. But she refused to take it back, and told her. "I have no need for it. Just give it to the captain. Tell him that I stopped by to give it to him."

"Yes I will right now." she nodded. Olivia walked out of the squad room and Alex got up and went to the captain.

As she walked to his office, she took a few peeks at what little evidence that Agent Benson could find. She opened the door and upon entry, she found none other than Kallen was in the room talking to the captain. Both of them were surprised to see the detective walk in, and she started to wonder what she wanted with Cragen.

"Is there something that I can do for you, Detective?" asked Cragen.

"Uh? Yes but I see that you two are in the middle of a conversation." she replied.

Kallen picked up her bag and told the detective, "Oh no worries, Detective Cabot. We were finishing our conversation. Now if you don't mind, I'll take my leave since you may have some important business to take care of."

She walked away without saying anything. Alex looked back over at Kallen, then back at her captain. She cocked her head a bit and asked him, "What were you talking about, Captain?"

Cragen sighed and told the detective, "She and I were speaking of a private matter. It's nothing that you need to worry about."

Alex understood him and moved on to what she needed to give him.

"Well, now that it out of the way. I came to give you the forensics on a murder case that Benson just told me about."

She gave him the folder, which he opened and took a look at. Cragen wondered why she had these files in the first place. He closed it and asked, "You're saying that Benson told you about this first?"

"Yes." she nodded, "How come I wasn't informed?"

"You weren't on the list, Detective."

Alex did not want to say anything else, in risk of sounding insubordinate. But she had a hunch, so she turned around and guessed, "It's the case that Stabler has been working on for the past few months? Isn't it?"

"Yeah it is." he agreed. "He gathered us weeks ago and revealed information about this cold case. I asked why he didn't tell you, he told me that it was better that you stayed off this case. Elliot didn't want this case to fall through because the defense would call bias and might have it thrown out."

"So it was all to maintain the integrity of this case?" Alex inquired.

"It was also to keep you safe. He didn't want you to get hurt again so he neglected to inform you." he explained.

"I understand, Captain." she nodded.

Alex sighed and walked out of the captain's office. She was getting tired of them treating her different because Euphemia shot her; it made her think that there was something wrong with her, it made her believe that she wasn't part of the team. She sat back at her desk and took a few minutes to get her head on correctly, all the work she has done over the last three weeks is beginning to bug her.

Walking into the squad room and towards his desk, Sergeant Munch stopped by her desk so he could tell her something important. He pulled up a chair and greeted, "Hey, kiddo. How are you holding up?"

Tapping her pen on the desk, she replied, "Well I have too much work that needs my attention, so I'm doing fine. If that's what you're aiming for."

"Well I'm not here to make small talk, Detective." Munch told her, getting to the point, "I came to tell you about Suzaku. Something wrong with him."

Once he mentioned his name, he got Alex's full attention. She put down the pen and asked with concern, "What's wrong with him?"

"Well for the last couple of weeks, I've seen him do nothing but lounge on the couch in despair." Munch explained, "But I think it's something more than that. I woke up to him having what looked like an intense nightmare. Something has been on his mind, and I could tell. He's tense, glass-eyed, and looks like he hasn't slept in days."

Alex was in shock to hear all of this. She couldn't believe that he was going through something tough. "Is this what Leila told you?" she asked.

"I haven't seen that girl recently. Neither has he. Perhaps you should talk to him, because I'm worried that it might have something to do with her."

"He hasn't spoken to her recently?"

"If he was, then he wouldn't be like this. Like I said, go on and talk to him. He needs a woman right now, and as long as I have a penis, I'm no use to him."

"Alright, I'll go and talk to him." she said, as she got up she asked, "Can you tackle some of this work for me while I'm away, Sergeant?"

Munch shrugged and replied, "Sure. There isn't anything going on. Go and talk to him, I'll take it from here."

She picked up her coat and walked out of the squad room. Munch believed that it was the right thing to tell her, he didn't want him to fall under all by himself – he needed Alex to keep Suzaku from sinking. It was about an hour later as Alex drove across Manhattan to the sergeant's apartment to speak to Suzaku; she almost made the mistake by going to Brooklyn.

* * *

Upon her arrival at the apartment building, she started to go over what to say to him. It has been a while since they've spoken to one another. She was worried that after so long, she could say the wrong thing and embarrass herself. She took the elevator several stories up and walked the rest of the way to his apartment. Her first instinct was to knock on the door, but she remembered that Munch stopped to give her a key before she left.

Alex opened the door and took a look around; it looked fairly clean from what she discovered. She heard the water running in the bathroom, assuming that he had the sink or the bathtub running. Alex sat down on the arm of the couch and waited for him to walk out of the bathroom. Approximately two minutes go by when she no longer hears the water running and the saw the bathroom door opened.

Suzaku walked out of the bathroom, drying his face and hair. He opened his eyes and saw Alex standing there; he thought his head was playing games with him, he didn't believe at first that Alex was standing right there in the flesh. He put down the towel and greeted the blonde detective, "Alex? What a surprise to see you, I wasn't expecting you here."

"Hello, Suzaku. I understand if my appearance is unexpected." she smiled.

"Is there something I can do for you?"

Alex got up and told him, "Yeah. I came to see how you're doing. From what I heard, you haven't been doing so well. Is there anything that I should know about while I'm here?"

He looked away from her and muttered, "No. There's nothing I want to tell you."

"Are you sure? I've been hearing things about you and I wish that I could've done something to help." Alex sighed; showing her concern for him. "I want you to know that you could always come to me whenever you have problems. It has been rough these past few months, and I feel that I could have paid you a visit. That's what I think."

He mustered the courage to look at her again; he approached her a bit and tried to explain, "Well it's about Leila. I don't want to get into the details but..."

"But nothing. Tell me what's going on between you guys."

Suzaku took a deep breath and explained, "One night, she and I were getting busy. It was going so well when she pulled me down and gave me a kiss. I kissed her back and I don't what I did wrong, but she pushed me off and ran out without an clear explanation. I don't know what I did. It may have been some stupid thing I did, but all I know is that she's gone and I haven't seen her since."

"And that's why you've been so troubled lately?" she inquired.

"Ever since she left, I've been having trouble sleeping. I can't close me eyes without thinking of bad things. In some way, I think that's it's all my fault. Nobody has been able to tell me if I should find her, or let her go. But still, I think I'm better off without her. Seems rather fitting, don't you agree."

Alex's concern for him only increased as she heard him spew hate on himself for the next minute or two. That's when she got up and put her hands on him.

"Suzaku..." she whispered to him; it calmed him to hear her soft voice. But it did not last. As he eyes were closed, Alex took the opportunity and slapped him hard in the face.

It caught him by surprise no less. He held his left cheek as he opened his eyes, only to see Alex's disgruntled face, giving him a mean glare.

He shouted in retaliation, "Alex, what the hell was that for?!"

"I was right! I should have kept tabs on you, that way you wouldn't be sitting in here feeling sorry for yourself!" she barked out.

He didn't know what to say, as he never seen this side of her before. Or at least often. He murmured, "Alex? What's going on?"

"I'm sorry, but if there is one thing I don't like, is seeing people feel sorry for themselves. I don't want to hear you bitch and moan about how everything is your fault, and hope that someone feels sorry for you. You're better than to keep blaming yourself."

"I'm sorry you feel that way." he nodded.

"Look, I understand what going on." Alex begun to explain, "But listen. I was hurt when you decided to give up on our friendship, and that was selfish of you. But if there's anything I've been trying to tell you is that you're a man. And a man can overcome adversity head strong and that's what I expect you to do."

"Is there anything else that you want to yell at me about?"

"Suzaku, I'm only yelling at you because I care. I get that you're torn up about Leila, but the thing I'm wondering is why you're letting her go?"

"I don't know why I didn't convince her to stay, but it's too late." he sighed, "Besides, what should I do about it?"

"Oh I don't know? You tell me? I can't tell you what to do in life, Suzaku. Neither can anyone else. You need to make your own decisions, don't rely on others telling you what to do because they don't control your life. You control your own path. Same thing with me. I can tell you to go out and get Leila back, but it wouldn't be your decision."

"So it's up to me to make my own decisions?"

"Precisely! Tell me, Suzaku? Do you love her? Do you want her back?"

He took the time to think about what he should do. Suzaku stepped back for a moment, then approached her once more and replied with confidence, "Yes. I love her and I want her back."

Alex pointed directly at the door and told him, "Then get your ass out there and get her back!"

He stood there in silence and looked down at himself. Before he even attempted to walk out the door, he said, "I might wanna get dressed first."

"Yeah I think that's a good idea." she agreed.

Suzaku walked into Munch's bedroom and got himself back together. Alex's ranting and yelling sunk in and encouraged him to go out and search for Leila. Meanwhile, Alex looked down and noticed that she was standing in trash, which she reluctantly picked up and threw away. She wasn't going to get into him about that. Alex left the apartment and back to the 16th Precinct so she resume her normal duties.

Now that he was ready to head out the door, Suzaku scoured all over Manhattan to find Leila wherever she was. It wasn't an easy task as Manhattan is large and it would take days at best. He started searching in areas he knew that she would regularly go. He spend the entire day searching for her in those areas, but was unsuccessful in his attempts. As the sun went down, Suzaku called it a day and went on home, resuming his search tomorrow.

Day two was just as long, but twice as busy as it was Sunday. He first tried searching in a couple of the same areas he searched yesterday, but again to no avail. His next destination was go back to Washington Square Park and see if there was anyone there that could recognize her. Through a good two hours, he asked the common people a photo of her to see if they have seen Leila recently but nobody was able to give him any information.

The rest of the day he spent asking around in random areas to see whether or not she has been around. His pursuit was not limited to the outdoors, as he tried calling and sending texts to see if she would respond. His conclusion was that she was intentionally ignoring him. He didn't understand why he could find her anywhere, something was telling him that she is now long gone. Perhaps he waited too long to come running for her.

The third day was a little less hard on him, as a couple people he talked to about her was able to recognize her. Suzaku asked where he could find her, but none of them was able to give him a good answer. At that point, he had searched all over the borough and a couple others. He was fully convinced that she's gone and he'll never see her again. So it was healthy for him to move on and go home, maybe to adjust his head.

* * *

_**-Later that Monday evening-** _

Inside the SVU squad room, some of the detectives were heading home and calling it a night. Alex was finishing up her work before she left the precinct for the night, while Sergeants Munch and Tutuola were about to conclude their day as well. At least one of them. After going through the ballistics in one case, Elliot wrapped it up for today and was about to leave for the night. However Alex needed to ask him something before he left.

Since she found out about that murder case, it made her think she was being alienated by her colleagues. This was one that she knew about, Alex wondered if that was the only case that they've hidden from her. It sounded crazy but she needed answers. She stopped him before he left the squad room so she could ask. He didn't know what she wanted from him and he was about to find out.

"Is there something that you want?" he asked.

"Yeah, I need to talk to you since we're all here." Alex told him. "Why did you leave me out of the cold case you've been working on? You told them, you told Liv, but not me?"

He was caught in a iffy situation, Elliot didn't know what to tell her. But he thought of some excuse and told her, "Well because I didn't feel as if you needed to concern yourself about it, so I didn't let you know what was going on."

"Why would you do that, El? I thought we were supposed to be on the same team."

"It's nothing personal. I didn't want you to get involved since I discovered that Euphemia played a role in it. She almost killed you, I just wanted to prevent that from happening again."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Alex argued, "I respect you, Detective. But it's not just this case. How many investigations you all have excluded me out of?"

Trying to keep things calm, Fin walked over and chimed in, "Alex, we wouldn't do you like that."

"I understand, but hear me out." she sighed, "I'm starting to think you guys think less of me as a detective since the accident. But that's now what is offending me. What I'm offended about is that you don't trust me enough to say that I shouldn't be involved, that way I would have understood. But going behind my back is something different. Even if you had the best intentions."

"Look, I understand that not telling you was an asshole move, but I didn't want to jeopardize a case by getting you involved." Elliot explained, "I apologize that we went behind your back, but at the end of the day, it's all about getting justice for you, Suzaku, Lelouch and Shirley. Shouldn't that be what's important?"

Alex took a moment to think about it. But in the end, she agreed, "I suppose you have a point. You have an opportunity to put her away, so I'll back off. I still wish you told me from the start."

"I understand, Alex." he nodded, "See you guys tomorrow."

She watched him walk out and head home; it did give her a lot to think about. It was pointless of her to think about it that much. Elliot had his reason not to tell Alex, since he feared of her safety and the integrity of the investigation. Still, it didn't hurt to at least give her some indication of what was going on.

* * *

_**-Meanwhile-** _

Three whole days of searching for his beloved, Suzaku walked the rest of the way back home after taking a cab most of the way. He still felt as if he could have ran after her when she left, he couldn't deny that he had the flashbacks and nightmares again when she left him astray. But he was ready to put all of it behind him and get himself back together in one piece all by himself. But as he walked towards Munch's place, looking at his phone, he noticed something.

The very first thing he saw as he got to the door, was Leila. She was sitting in front of the door in waiting. Suzaku was in disbelief, the fact that she was sitting there waiting for him was shocking to him. Now as for Leila, she didn't notice him standing next to her. He wanted to approach her in a good way, or he may scare her off.

He took a couple steps forward and said, "Are you waiting for something?"

His words startled her, Leila looked over to her left and saw him standing above her. She looked away and replied, "I see you're home. I guess you didn't expect me to be here by your door."

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"Because I felt as if I should be." she told him. She looked at him momentarily then quickly turned away. "I guess you are searching for an explanation for running out on you."

"That would be refreshing to hear. Why did you run off like that?"

"I don't know. I think it's because of our pact. We were not supposed to kiss one another, since it is a form of affection."

"What does that imply?" Suzaku replied, "Are you implying that you have some type of affection for me?"

She did not respond. He bent down to one knee and asked her.

"I want to know. Leila, do you love me?"

Once again, she did not respond. However, he noticed how she was blushing. Leila hid her face from him the best she could, but telling by her body language he could tell that she was holding something back from him. Suzaku got closer to her and told her.

"Why are you trying to hold it in? I know you have some type of affection, don't try to hide it. Say something."

"Stop trying to push me." she whispered.

He was going nowhere with this. He could tell that there was something she was hiding, so he told her straight-forward, "I'm only doing it because I love you. I'm not afraid to admit it, I didn't want to accept it at first, but I knew that I do have strong feelings for you. Not because of the sex, but because we've had so many great times together."

Leila was on the verge of tears, as she murmured to herself, "It was a mistake. I wasn't supposed to fall in love with you."

"But you do love me." he said after he heard what she said to herself, "You can push it back, but you can't deny what's already in front of you. I need you, Leila. I've lost so much, been through too much. You are the only one who can keep me sane by touching me, that's how I know you care."

She hated how she was face to face with it. She didn't want to admit it, neither did she want to accept it. However, what he said was what got to her.

"So you're saying I have that much of an impact on you?" she assumed.

"I was in turmoil when you showed up in my life. You are special to me, that I've realized."

Still in doubt, Suzaku went down to one knee and inched closer to her face. He wanted to get her to admit it without forcing her too. She was intrigued by his persistence more than anything else and at some point, it was turning around. Leila worked up the courage to look at him eye to eye and smiled at him.

"I always win battles, but you managed to find a compromise." she told him, "Yes, I admit that... that kiss meant something more. If anything, I believe I do have some romantic feelings towards you."

Suzaku placed his hand under her chin and asked, "So are you willing to kiss me once more?"

In response, Leila placed her hand behind his head and answered, "I'm more inclined to give you a little extra. If that's alright with you."

He took her hand and lifted her off the floor. He opened the door and before they entered, she hugged him tight. He didn't have to say anything but welcome her inside; once they walked in, they started kissing each other. Suzaku guided her to Munch's bedroom while Leila wrapped her arms and legs around him, the only time they weren't kissing was when they stopped for breath.

Suzaku gently placed her on the bed then they resumed kissing. At some point, she got a little ahead of herself as she pulled his hair and tried tearing off his clothes. He stopped her and toned down their pace, though he put both hand on the back of her head then lifted her forward, arching her back. He separated his lips from her and removed her clothes. He got up and saw her half-naked form before his eyes, so he continued.

He started by applying kisses to her pale chest, yet he held of caressing her at that moment yet he traveled from her chest to her legs, skipping that special area. It wasn't time for that. He took her leg and dragged his tongue up and down, then kissed it down to her foot. She was interestingly aroused, yet as she watched him service her, Leila noticed how she has received more than she has given. She took him by surprise and pushed him down.

Although she wasn't able to get him on his back entirely, she crawled on him and proceeded to kiss his neck and place her hand between his legs. She was kind and gentle to him as she did this then proceeded to go down on him. This time, it was her turn to provide satisfaction. Leila spent a good amount of time pleasuring him – but let's spare the details. They went back and fourth with the foreplay until they were both almost entirely naked.

They were ready for each other, as Suzaku entered her. He went in and out of her slowly but as things began heating up, he got a little faster in her. They switched positions throughout their endeavor, for example, Leila being on her hands and knees, her back and then on top of him. Whichever position she was in, she was enjoying it all too well and it some way, she was glad that it was happening.

As time went by, the more intense it got between them. It was clear that both of them were reaching their limit but they didn't want it to stop. She held him tight and he felt as if he was going to faint right then and there. The rest of the way, they engaged in a kiss; approximately four to seven minutes later, they both feel each other clenching and pulsating. A couple of minutes later, the two of them fainted and fell right to sleep.

After finishing, Leila lied there panting hard while her lover passed out soon after completion. At least she get something out of it too. Still, Leila turned around towards him, wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes. She rested her head on his shoulder and whispered in his ear that he is safe and sound. Once those words came out of her mouth, she fell to sleep.

Even though he engaged in a passionate night with his lover, the only thing that was on Suzaku's mind was will she be there in the morning. Regardless of what they did, he proved to himself and Alex that he is capable of making his own decisions. At least for tonight, the nightmares have disappeared.

* * *

**End of Chapter Twenty One**


End file.
